On REBNY's 2015 Agenda: Ongoing Advocacy

NEW YORK CITY—It’s the stated mission of the Real Estate Board of New York “to protect, improve and advance the business of real estate” in the city, and tackling a variety of municipal, state and federal issues has been among the ways it has carried that mission out. As REBNY’s annual report makes clear, advocacy is not a series of one-and-done victories, and the association’s 2015 agenda will include a number of initiatives it has pursued for several years.

For example, on a local level REBNY has long advocated for “a plan that enhances the commercial character of the East Midtown district and builds upon the transit and open space assets already in place.” A rezoning that would serve as the basis of such a plan failed to come to pass during the final months of the Bloomberg administration, and Mayor Bill de Blasio, while broadly supporting an East Midtown rezoning, has called for changes to the plan.