This year, several major real estate players poured money into Gov. Kathy Hochul’s campaign fund.
Many give the maximum amount an individual is allowed — $18,000 — an analysis real deal established.
The Democratic governor has taken a stand as a political moderate and made it clear she will push for some of her top real estate priorities, including tax breaks like 421a and J-51. That helps explain the support she has from the industry.
But giving money to the state’s top executive — who is one of the most powerful governors in the country — is part of the standard playbook in the business world. Hochul’s election last fall won her a four-year term.
The Rudin family is Gov. Hochul’s most generous real estate donor, with five members contributing a total of $90,000 to her campaign.
Rudin Management owns 33 properties in New York City, including 17 residential buildings totaling 4.7 million square feet and 16 office buildings totaling 10.5 million square feet, according to its website.
Hochul’s second-biggest income from real estate came from four gifts worth $36,000.
One is from the Catsimatidis family, whose Red Apple Group is involved in industries such as real estate and supermarkets.
Another is from members of the Elghanayan family, who in 2009 split the assets between Rockrose and TF Cornerstone.
Another donation of $36,000 came from Alexander Rovt, the billionaire investor and head of the IBE trade group, and his wife, Olga.
Steiners of Steiner Equities Group, a development management and leasing firm based in Roseland, New Jersey, also provided $36,000 to Hochul.
While many of Hochul’s largest industry donations come from real estate families, other support also comes from individual real estate investors.
Over the past six months, Hochul has received $18,000 in individual donations from at least six unrelated (blood-related) real estate practitioners, including Jeff Levine of Douglaston Companies, Aby Rosen of RFR Holding and Gary Barnett of Extell Development.
Other donors of $18,000 included Daniel Tishman of Tishman Realty and Construction, SL Green Realty CEO Marc Holliday and co-chairman Stephen Green. The latter two donated as much as $2,100 to Mayor Eric Adams’ re-election campaign.
Hochul’s proposed housing compact, unveiled in January, was welcomed by real estate firms because it aims to add 800,000 homes to the state over a decade without providing affordable housing or construction workers’ going-forward wages. It also provides an alternative pathway for residential projects hindered by locality. But the legislature refused to pass the bill.
