Gural, Wohlman Himmel Lead REBNY Honorees

NEW YORK CITY-Newmark Knight Frank chairman Jeffrey Gural and Himmel + Meringoff Properties' Leslie Wohlman Himmel will be recognized for their leadership roles in the city’s real estate community at next month’s 115th annual Real Estate Board of New York banquet. Gural, who will receive the Harry B. Helmsley Distinguished New Yorker Award for 2011, and Wohlman Himmel, only the second woman to receive REBNY’s Bernard H. Mendik Lifetime Leadership in Real Estate Award, are two of six honorees the association announced Wednesday.

The Helmsley award is presented each year to a REBNY member for “invaluable contributions to New York’s civic welfare and the real estate community.” REBNY’s Mendik award honors “a lifetime of exceptional accomplishment in the profession and dedication to leadership in New York real estate.” The 2010 honoree was Mary Ann Tighe, CEO of the New York tristate region for CB Richard Ellis and the current REBNY chairman.

Along with Gural and Wohlman Himmel, other honorees will include Andrew J. Singer of the Singer & Bassuk Organization, who will receive the Louis Smadbeck Broker Recognition Award; Cushman & Wakefield’s Frank Freda, recipient of the George M. Brooker Management Executive of the Year Award; Leonard Boxer of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, to be honored with the Kenneth R. Gerrety Humanitarian Award; and David Brause of Brause Realty Inc., who will receive the Young Real Estate Man of the Year Award.

Additionally, the REBNY Banquet, scheduled for Jan. 20, will include an educational component in the form of a video presentation. The video will be displayed throughout the evening and will address the real estate industry’s positive financial impact on New York City, the economic benefits of new construction, real property tax system, tax incentives, Washington lobbying efforts and landmarks.