How many times have you attended the annual REBNY gala?
Oh, gosh. I’ve been, easily, more than 25 times—easy.
Is there one gala that stands out, either because of something great that happened, something embarrassing that happened, or something memorable that happened?
That’s easy. It was the January gala that came immediately after 9/11.
Why?
Remember that our business was frozen for many, many months after 9/11. There was a general sense of, was the model of how we were built—our great vertical city—going to vanish because no one would ever want to be in a skyscraper again? These thoughts seem inconceivable today. But they were absolutely on everybody’s mind back then. And to feel the commitment of the members and the recognition that everybody felt such a connection to the city, and a desire to see its citizens and its skyline restored to health, was inspiring. The energy was about those emotions. That’s the banquet that jumps out.
Without knowing for sure, how would you summarize this week’s REBNY gala?
Brandl Frey, the chairman of the Young Men’s/Young Women’s Real Estate Association, said to me at the banquet last year, “Oh, this is so amazing. This is the first time I’ve ever been.” And so I’m like, “What are you talking about, Brandl?” So I said, “Here’s what I want you to do: Young Men, Young Women, I want you to organize. You pick the number of young people who would not be able to get in through their firms. And let’s get tickets so that we have, for the first time at this one coming up, 2012, a whole slew of people who are the next generation of leaders. And YMREA should be the ones to select them and make them our guests at this event.” So that’s what’s going to happen this year.
jsederstrom@observer.com
