Spinola: REBNY at ‘all-time high’

Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York since 1986, said the city’s biggest real estate trade group “is at an all-time high in terms of its involvement and its ability to convey the concerns of the real estate industry.” He said REBNY is influencing several pieces of legislation, and is concerned about the tenant harassment bill that would enable tenants to go directly to court claim harassment, rather than the through the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Spinola also said that mayoral hopefuls next year should realize how important the real estate industry is to the city’s economy. The Corcoran Group and Prudential Douglas Elliman have yet to join REBNY’s Web portal, ResidentialNYC.com, but they “think the Web site is terrific,” Spinola said.