Jim Whelan became the face of the Real Estate Board of New York at an especially brutal time for the industry.
He took over for John Banks just a month after the state passed a sweeping new rent law that affected nearly 1 million apartments. But Whelan was no newcomer to the game: Since 2010, he worked behind the scenes as REBNY’s chief government strategist. And at his first REBNY gala as president, he chatted with The Real Deal about what impact the new laws are having — and will have — on the industry, plus what havoc proposed legislation could wreak.
“I must admit we’re playing a lot of defense,” Whelan said. “It’s not a great political environment.”
Watch the video above to hear Whelan’s 2020 agenda.
Filmed by Caroline Mariko Stuckey. Interview by Rich Bockmann.
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