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Politics
New York

Jim Whelan talks “playing defense”

REBNY’s president shares his views on the new rent law, tax revenue and the pied-a-terre tax at the organization’s 124th annual banquet

Jim Whelan became the face of the Real Estate Board of New York at an especially brutal time for the industry.

He took over for John Banks just a month after the state passed a sweeping new rent law that affected nearly 1 million apartments. But Whelan was no newcomer to the game: Since 2010, he worked behind the scenes as REBNY’s chief government strategist. And at his first REBNY gala as president, he chatted with The Real Deal about what impact the new laws are having — and will have — on the industry, plus what havoc proposed legislation could wreak.

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“I must admit we’re playing a lot of defense,” Whelan said. “It’s not a great political environment.”

Watch the video above to hear Whelan’s 2020 agenda.

Filmed by Caroline Mariko Stuckey. Interview by Rich Bockmann.

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From left: Deputy Mayor of Housing and Economic Development Vicki Been, Sen. Brian Kavanagh (inset), Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, State Division of Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner Ruthanne Visnauskas (inset), Council member Keith Powers, with Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio (background) (Credit: Anuja Shakya, Getty Images)
Politics
New York
Politico shows and no-shows: What public officials attended the REBNY gala?
Clockwise from top left: Jim Whelan, Larry Silverstein, Helena Durst, Teodora Zobel, Jonathan Mechanic and Laurinda Martins, John Catsimatidis, Gary Barnett, Mark Weprin, Donovan Richards, Bruce Mosler, Adelaide Polsinelli and David Schechtman (Photos by Anuja Shakya)
Commercial
New York
Reflection, resentment and some remorse: Real estate’s mood at the REBNY gala
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