Jim Whelan Says REBNY Will Work with Zohran Mamdani

9 minutes read

Real Estate Board of New York President Jim Whelan’s advice for potential Mayor Zohran Mamdani is simple: Surround yourself with good people.

“Hire the best people you can,” he said during an event hosted by Crain’s on Thursday. “It is a really, really difficult job.”

The “best people,” he said, should be hired regardless of ideology. In other words, a Mamdani administration that won’t be stacked solely with members of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Whelan said whoever becomes mayor, “it’s in all our interests that he succeeds.”

“We’re going to be looking to work closely with Mayor Mamdani if he is the winner on November 4,” he said.

Mamdani’s opponents have repeatedly criticized his lack of previous experience (he has been a state Assembly member, representing the 36th District in Queens, since 2021). Critics and supporters alike will be watching who joins his administration closely.

Mamdani has been tight-lipped about potential administration hires. In fact, reported overtures by Comptroller Brad Lander to become the first deputy mayor have allegedly caused tension between the two, Gothamist reported.

The remarks come after months of some in the industry flip-flopping on their support of candidates vying to beat Mamdani

Real estate executives poured millions of dollars into backing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s campaign ahead of the June primary. Some shifted their allegiance to Mayor Eric Adams after his loss, but support fizzled alongside the mayor’s poor polling numbers.

Others, however, including some affordable housing developers, have been vocal about trying to work with Mamdani as the presumed next mayor.

Still, a number of industry players have donated tens of thousands of dollars to various anti-Mamdani political action committees. Related Companies CEO Jeff Blau reportedly organized a meeting of business leaders this month to strategize Cuomo’s potential path to victory.

Whelan and REBNY chair Jed Walentas met with Mamdani last month, as The Real Deal previously reported. Whelan described Mamdani as a “good listener” and said they discussed topics where they agree (the need for upzonings, increasing housing vouchers, fully staffing the city’s housing agencies), points where they might agree (how to ramp up housing production) and areas where they disagree (Mamdani’s proposal to freeze rents for stabilized apartments).

During Thursday’s event, Whelan also highlighted some of the trade group’s legislative priorities next year. For example, he believes “the idea of increasing taxes is going to be a robust conversation in Albany next year,” an effort that REBNY will oppose. He also expressed hope that lawmakers will eventually change the city’s greenhouse gas emissions law, Local Law 97, to help property owners comply. He additionally floated extending the office-to-residential conversions tax exemption, 467m, and increasing the value of the incentive for projects outside of Manhattan.