Real Estate Luminaries Honored at REBNY'S 122nd Annual Banquet

REBNY 2018 honorees (from left: Gene Boniberger, Elizabeth Stribling, Rob Speyer, John Banks, Joanne Podell, Richard LeFrak, Ron Lo Russo)/ Photo credit: Jill Lotenberg

NEW YORK CITY—The Real Estate Board of New York’s new chairman, William C. Rudin, and president, John Banks, welcomed a convivial crowd of close to 2,000 guests gathered at the Hilton Midtown on Thursday night.

Tickets for REBNY’s 122nd annual banquet cost $1,200 per person. But the event offered opportunities to network and to say hello to politicians including Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, business leaders and some of the highest profile names in New York’s CRE world.

Women wore sequins, silk, lace and standard New York black and men dressed in dark suits. Attendees mingled at a cocktail reception before heading to the Grand Ballroom to eat dinner, watch the brief awards program, exchange business cards and to socialize.

Despite some of the sobering real estate statistics of 2017 including the declines in retail rents, the extroverted crowd shared an optimistic, celebratory mood. Rubin and Banks periodically reminded attendees to lower their voices (or to stop talking) during the awards program.