NEW YORK CITY—As his nearly 30-year tenure at REBNY draws to a close—and the last annual banquet over which he will preside approaches—GlobeSt.com is taking a look back at Steven Spinola's rich legacy at the organization. Currently the president of REBNY, Spinola is set to step down later this year.
In the wake of the horrific events of Sep. 11, 2001, under Spinola's stewardship, REBNY sprung into action. Among its accomplishments in the immediate aftermath, the organization issued a directive against profiteering by urging members to keep rents at pre-9/11 amounts. It pushed brokers to waive commissions on new leases of a year or less for dislodged companies and it establisheda telephone space bank to assist companies displaced by the destruction.
In steps related to that fateful day with longer-term impact, REBNY lobbied Congress for federal terrorism insurance and formed a task force to study insurance-related problems. Also, it created a security task force—with the assistance of law enforcement agencies and the city's Office of Emergency Management; established email service to transmit security advisories to members and it raised more than $12 million for the Twin Towers Fund and other charities to help victims and their families.
Several years later, the organization continued its involvement in dealing with the issues of that attack, with the Board convincing the federal government to move the criminal trial of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Muhammad away from Lower Manhattan.
More recently, with Spinola still at the helm, REBNY stepped up during another incident in the city. In March of last year, following a gas explosion in Harlem that killed eight residents and injured 70, many occupants of adjacent buildings were displaced. REBNY quickly assembled 39 apartments from its members in the area to house those families that were left homeless by the accident.
"We will continue to work with the city to provide a longer-term solution for those who were impacted," Spinola said at the time.
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, REBNY and its members took active roles in several public committees, including Governor Cuomo's NYS 2100, NYS Respond, and NYS Ready commissions, NYC's Building Resiliency Task Force, as well as seeking recovery funding from the federal government. REBNY also facilitated the placement of displaced office tenants into temporary space in addition to coordinating the distribution of vital flood mitigation and recovery equipment.
Just a few months later, ever the optimist, Spinola declared, “Like the $6 million man, we're building Lower Manhattan bigger, stronger and better than before.”
And Among Spinola's many other accomplishments, just last week, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act passed both the House of Representatives and the Senate as the industry held its collective breath. REBNY had been pushing for the legislation as far back as 2002.
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
