In their words

The funniest and most insightful comments on real estate

“When they call me with a deal, I pay attention.”
-Former New York Governor and active real estate investor Eliot Spitzer, on receiving calls from Massey Knakal Realty.

“They are like mushrooms, they proliferate everywhere.”
-Ideal Properties Group’s Aleksandra Scepanovic, on the rise of market reports.

“I think of these apartments as paintings … I’m not surprised when the architectural treasures of Manhattan reach new highs.”
-Brown Harris Stevens superbroker John Burger, on the continual upward march of the uberluxury market.

“How many people can really live like this? Not many. It’s obscene.”
-Elliman broker Frances Katzen, on how some wealthy buyers buy luxury pads all around the world and then leave them vacant.

“You’ve got to have a building that signals, ‘You are welcome here. You are just as valuable as every person in this neighborhood.’”
-HPD commissioner Vicki Been, on steps the city and Silverstein Properties took to make a “poor door” more palatable at 10 Freedom Place.

“I can’t even keep up with the emails from retail CEOs and restaurateurs.”
-Related Companies executive Kenneth Himmel, on the deluge of interest in the Hudson Yards retail complex after it secured luxury brand Neiman Marcus as an anchor tenant.

“I think there came a moment where we realized we were maybe a little behind the times.”
-River House condo board president, John Allison, on the loosening of restrictions at the legendarily stuffy co-op.

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“We are at a stalemate with them at the moment.”
-David Emil, president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., on its dispute with the Port Authority over the cost of building Five World Trade Center.

“Nimbyism has its place — when the offending structures are illegal toxic-waste dumps or brothels.”
-NYT editorial board, on the need to embrace development, with some exceptions.

“That does not diminish the pride we all should, and do, feel.”
-Larry Silverstein, on how despite its immense delays, the World Trade Center project is still a big achievement.

“My dad falls in love with buildings. I am an unemotional seller.”
-Real estate scion Andrea Olshan, on how her style differs from that of her father, Morton Olshan.

“I think he made a little bit of a faux pas.”
-NYU professor Mitchell Moss, on City Planning chief Carl Weisbrod’s recent comment that the city would require affordable units for any new housing development, which unnerved developers.

Sources: Crain’s, Downtown Express, Real Estate Weekly, DNAinfo.com, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, the New York Times, New York Daily News.