The Bernard H. Mendik Lifetime Leadership in Real Estate Award
- Elizabeth Stribling, Chairman of Stribling & Associates and President of Stribling Marketing Associates
Elizabeth Stribling founded Stribling & Associates in 1980. Today it has four offices and over 300 agents across Manhattan and Brooklyn. As part of that growth, she acquired James & Wells & Sons in 1989 and, a decade later, she founded Stribling Marketing Associates.
A member of REBNY’s Board of Governors, Stribling was the 1995 winner of REBNY’s Henry Forster Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement and Conduct Within the Residential Brokerage Profession.
Involved with setting up the initial Residential Committee in the early 1980s, Stribling says REBNY provides research, continuing education, ethical standards and supports the industry before city, state and federal governments. “It enhances your knowledge of the industry and it’s a place to get to know your fellow brokers in a congenial setting,” she says. “You get what you give around.”
Stribling became a Francophile after a trip to France and cooking classes with Julia Child. Currently chairman of the French Heritage Society, she has been the corporate honoree at the French consulate while the French government honored her as both an officer with the insignia of the National Order of Merit, and as an officer of the Légion d’Honneur.
She serves on the boards of the American Hospital of Paris Foundation; the Women’s Committee of the Central Park Conservancy; and the New York Landmarks Conservancy, and previously served on several other boards.
The George M. Brooker Management Executive of the Year Award
- Gene Boniberger, Senior Vice President and Director of Building Operations for Rudin Management Company
This award recognizes individuals of superior accomplishment in property management based on outstanding professionalism, civic achievement and contributions to the real estate industry.
Boniberger began his career at Rudin Management Company right out of high school and never looked back. He rose up the ranks from being an engineer’s helper to chief engineer, and managed several properties before joining its commercial operations group as operations manager in 1987.
Now senior vice president, Boniberger heads the operations department, overseeing Rudin’s 10 million square feet of commercial and 5 million square feet of residential properties, and aspects of all new construction projects. “The company has a philosophy of promoting from within,” Boniberger says.
Keeping up with the tech times, Boniberger is the co-inventor of the Digital Building Operating System (DiBOSS), and its successor NANTUM, which is a product of Rudin’s digital startup, Prescriptive Data. “We saw the need to make [DiBOSS] flexible and scalable,” he says. This real-time building operating system integrates diverse applications into one cockpit that can be viewed and controlled by tablets and phones.
Boniberger is also involved in several charities dedicated to helping children including Donate Eight — affiliated with Live
OnNY (previously the New York Organ Donor Network) — where he is a board member of the LiveOnNY Foundation. He also supports Outreach and the Torch Foundation.
He is also a member of REBNY’s Management Division Board of Directors, its Commercial and Residential Management Councils, and its Sustainability Committee.
“We are friendly competitors, but it is really like an alliance,” he explains. “We work together to see how we can comply with new regulations [because] the technology doesn’t always exist.”
The Kenneth R. Gerrety Humanitarian Award
- Richard LeFrak, Chief Executive Officer & Chairman, LeFrak
116-year-old privately held company founded by his great-grandfather in 1905 now owns over 40 million square feet of property across the United States.
Primarily focused on the New York/New Jersey area, it also has significant interests in South Florida and along the West Coast.
The company owns residential and office projects, as well as retail and hotels. It also invests in oil and gas mining, royalties and mineral rights in both the US and Canada.
Other affiliates invest in venture capital and private equity ventures such as the Hyperloop.
LeFrak joined his family company in 1968, becoming president in 1975 and chairman and CEO upon the death of his father, Samuel, in 2003. A graduate of Amherst College with a JD from Columbia University, LeFrak has continued the firm’s leadership and expansion with signature developments and investments.
The LeFrak family and LeFrak charitable foundations have supported many philanthropic organizations and projects.
These include the Guggenheim Museum, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Prospect Park, Barnard College, the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera and the American Museum of Natural History, where he serves as vice chairman of the board of trustees.
He has also has served on the Prostate Cancer Foundation’s board of directors and was previously a trustee of Amherst College and the Trinity School.
LeFrak also serves on REBNY’s board of governors and was appointed by President Trump as co-chair of the Infrastructure Advisory Council.
“More than most industries, our real estate industry has found a way to cooperate with each other,” LeFrak says.
“Just because REBNY makes collaboration look easy, and even inevitable, doesn’t mean that it’s close to easy or inevitable,” he adds. “The real estate industry is made up of thousands of independent entrepreneurs . . . Our issues aren’t all the same, but REBNY gets us to cooperate on what our industry needs.”
For anyone starting out in any career or new undertaking, LeFrak advises, “What you don’t know is never as important as what you don’t know you don’t know. He appreciates REBNY for its professional development.
It “makes a huge difference. Most people don’t see the educational aspect of what they provide inside the industry — such as professional and regulatory training and certifications they make available — is all important.”
The Louis Smadbeck Memorial Broker Recognition Award
- Joanne Podell, Executive Vice Chairman of Cushman & Wakefield
This award celebrates a commercial broker with exceptional personal and professional integrity, leadership, prominence in the brokerage community and service to REBNY’s committees.
A 25-year veteran of the industry, Podell is one of its most respected retail brokers. Active on REBNY’s Commercial Brokerage Division board of directors, its Retail Committee and Lower Manhattan Committee, she is also a three-time winner of REBNY’s Retail Deal of the Year Award.
In 2016, Podell was Cushman & Wakefield’s first retail broker to become its top global broker and was its top US retail broker in both 2014 and 2015. Also in 2016, she was the first retail broker named an executive vice chairman.
A Bronx native raised on Long Island, she was a teacher and then founded a furniture chain.
A steep increase in its warehouse rent later propelled her into retail brokerage. She began with Garrick-Aug and moved to New Spectrum and Newmark before being recruited by Cushman &Wakefield.
Since then, Podell has worked on some of the city’s most significant deals including those for Nike, Anne Taylor and TD Bank; and for building owners from the Empire State Realty Trust to Madison Capital and Macklowe.
She supports St. Jude’s Hospital, the Young Women’s Leadership Network and SameSky, which helps Rwandan craftswomen. In 2012, Podell was the WX New York Women Executives in Real Estate’s Woman of the Year.
While REBNY is a great lobbying organization, Podell says it also helps its members learn about their profession through meetings, seminars and the committee system.
“If you get active with a committee, you can network and learn about the deals, as we share information,” Podell says. “It’s a great way to feel you are part of the industry and not feel isolated, especially if you are at a smaller company.”
The Young Real Estate Professional of the Year Award
- Ron Lo Russo, President of Cushman & Wakefield’s Agency Consulting Group
Lo Russo drives new business opportunities by creating and executing strategies for the leasing campaigns of 60 buildings representing 44 million square feet. Lo Russo previously served as president of C&W’s tri-state region, where he oversaw all facets of operations and the performance of the 15 regional offices throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Prior to joining C&W, Lo Russo spent 16 years with Vornado Realty Trust, seven as its local vice president of leasing while overseeing 6.5 million square feet of complex leasing transactions.
Lo Russo wanted to be involved in real estate from an early age. Working at Prudential in New Jersey, he decided to continue his education. After earning an MBA from NYU Stern, he joined Mendik Realty, led by REBNY’s late chairman, Bernard Mendik. Upon its acquisition, Lo Russo transitioned into Vornado, then a fledgling real estate investment trust.
He left to attend New York Law School, and after obtaining his JD and becoming a member of both the New York and New Jersey bars, he rejoined Vornado as in-house counsel. He later spent several years at Mintz Levin before returning to Vornado.
Lo Russo is currently chairman emeritus of the Young Men’s/Women’s Real Estate Association, which chose him for this award.
“Both REBNY and YM/WREA were fantastic places to get involved,” he says. “It’s easy to get lost in New York real estate. But whether with a big or small company, both organizations let you have a voice and let you network.”
At C&Q, Lo Russo developed and launched its Professional Real Estate Program, PREP, a training and rotational program for aspiring commercial real estate professionals.
Lo Russo also serves on the boards of the Boy Scouts of New York and Tomorrow’s Hope; is a trustee of the Citizens Budget Commission and member of the Partnership for NYC.
The Harry B. Helmsley Distinguished New Yorker Award
- Rob Speyer, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tishman Speyer
Speyer has guided Tishman Speyer into a leading global real estate investment management firm, overseeing $83 billion in assets.
In the last decade alone, Speyer delivered over 36 million square feet of development and redevelopment across 30 global markets that serve 2,300 tenants. Area properties include Rockefeller Center, the Chrysler Building and the MetLife Building.
The descendant of Tishman Realty & Construction Co. founder Julius Tishman, Rob’s father, Jerry, co-founded Tishman Speyer in 1978. Rob was named president & co-chief executive officer in 2008, and became sole CEO in 2015.
For the last five years, as REBNY’s chairman, Speyer led the organization’s transition to its first new president in 30 years and two mayoral administrations. During this time, REBNY both increased membership and recruited a new generation of industry leaders to its Executive Committee and Board of Governors. “These efforts . . . have left REBNY in a strong position moving forward,” Speyer says.
REBNY also played a role in crafting the Affordable New York Housing Program and the Midtown East rezoning.
“Both initiatives are vital to the city’s economic future, and each required a great deal of perseverance to get across the finish line,” he says.
Speyer is also chairman of the Advisory Board of the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City and serves on the boards of New York-Presbyterian Hospital and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where he oversaw its recent restoration and renovation. He is a member of the Shanghai mayor’s International Business Leaders Advisory Council.
Speyer graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia in 1992.
The John E. Zuccotti, Public Service Award
- US Senator Charles Schumer
This award recognizes a New Yorker who has displayed exceptional accomplishments and service in the public’s interest.
In 2016, New York’s senior senator, Charles “Chuck” Schumer, was reelected to his fourth Senate term as well as the leader of the Democratic caucus, the first New Yorker to hold that position.
A Brooklyn native, Schumer attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School before launching his political career.
He served three terms in the New York State Assembly before his election to the US House of Representatives. He was elected to the US Senate in 1998.
Known as being a tireless fighter for New York, he has always worked to build a consensus by employing common sense that resonates across the aisle on numerous issues.
Senator Schumer has demonstrated unwavering leadership and commitment to New York.
– REBNY President John Banks
REBNY says that today’s robust skyline can be traced back to Schumer’s 2001 “Group of 35” report that urged the city to use its zoning, taxing and condemnation powers to speed office construction — particularly in Midtown, the Far West Side, Long Island City and Downtown Brooklyn.
The Senator is a frequent guest at REBNY’s annual dinner and is cognizant of the role played by real estate in supporting the city and state’s tax bases, providing housing in all neighborhoods and for numerous other resident and
tourism services.
