Real estate pours $24M into NYC election PACs

Nearly 1 in 4 donations to the main political action committees funding this year’s New York City elections came from the real estate industry.

The industry poured at least $24.4 million into the major PACs this election season, accounting for about 23 percent of the PACs’ total contributions, according to an analysis by The Real Deal of campaign filings recorded with the city through Oct. 28.

Affordable New York took in the most from the real estate industry: $10 million via two donations from Airbnb, comprising 41 percent of real estate’s total donations to PACs.

The group largely supports Ty Hankerson, who is running for City Council. It also has opposed Zohran Mamdani, Scott Stringer and Brad Lander as mayoral candidates, as they are against short-term rentals, per Politico.

Fix the City, the PAC supporting former governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent candidate for mayor, was second, with about $7 million in donations from the real estate industry.

Overall, more than half of the funds stemming from the real estate industry — about $13 million — went to PACs supporting Cuomo or PACs opposing Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor.

Most of these donations from the industry rolled in before the primary, which Cuomo lost to Mamdani in June. The industry withdrew a bulk of its support from Cuomo after his loss and turned to Mayor Eric Adams, with some later returning to Cuomo after Adams withdrew from the race. While real estate players also donated directly to candidates, there are no limits on donations to PACs, allowing people to spend as much as they want.

After the primary, many real estate bigwigs threw their money into anti-Mamdani PACs, like Anyone But Mamdani. That committee raised $120,000 from the industry, about 83 percent of that PAC’s total donations.

Real estate executives also gave about $7.6 million to Put NYC First, a group led by Infinite Global Real Estate Partners’ Marty Burger and Mack Real Estate Group’s Richard Mack, which in turn donated to anti-Mamdani and pro-Cuomo PACs.

Just two pro-Mamdani PACs, New Yorkers for Lower Costs and One NYC, received funds from real estate donors. The industry’s contributions to those PACs came in at more than $82,000, or 0.3 percent of the industry’s total PAC donations.