New York’s Homegrown Real Estate Icons

New York City attracts some of the top real estate talent in the country. But some of the Big Apple’s most powerful dealmakers are homegrown. Here’s the breakdown of the New York City natives among The Real Deal’s Top 100.

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is where some of the most well-known players in commercial real estate were born or raised.

Take Larry Silverstein, the billionaire nonagenarian developer of the new World Trade Center complex. Silverstein was born in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

Barry Gosin, CEO of Newmark Group, is from East Flatbush, while Joe Sitt, who made money in the garment industry before pivoting to real estate and founding Thor Equities, grew up in south Brooklyn.

Some were born elsewhere but made the borough their home. Notorious nightclub owner and hotelier Ian Schrager was born in the Bronx but raised in Brooklyn, he says. David Bistricer, CEO at Clipper Equities, immigrated to Borough Park from Europe with his family as a toddler.

Manhattan

Our dealmakers from the core of the city on the whole grew up in elite circles.

For example, Doug Eisenberg, founder and CEO of multifamily operator A&E, attended the private Trinity School on the Upper West Side. Alongside him was another person with a big name in multifamily: Harrison LeFrak. Another alum of Trinity is Jed Walentas, CEO of Two Trees, who grew up in Soho and later attended boarding school Philips Academy – Andover in Massachusetts.

At least three on the New York City Top 100 list attended Dalton, on the Upper East Side: Rob Speyer, CEO of Tishman-Speyer; Nicholas Silvers, founding partner at Tavros Capital; and his frequent collaborator Sam Charney, principal at Charney Companies.

Just a few blocks away, top broker and former “Park Avenue Princess” Serena Boardman of Sotheby’s International attended girl’s school Chapin.

Stefan Soloviev, chairman of Soloviev Group and son of billionaire Sheldon Solow, attended a rotation of schools including Dwight and Columbia Prep.

Another scion, Alex Witkoff, son of Steve Witkoff and CEO of the Witkoff Group, attended Riverdale Country School in the Bronx.

Holding down downtown, Dan Brodsky, CEO of the Brodsky Organization, attended Little Red Schoolhouse, where he received a progressive left-wing education.

And speaking of left-wing, although not a dealmaker, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani made the list for his influence on the industry. The son of a Columbia University professor and a film director was famously born in Uganda, but attended the private Bank Street School for Children in Manhattan before the Bronx High School of Science, one of the city’s competitive public schools.

And The Rest . . .

Queens comes in third as a birthplace of real estate influencers. Francis Greenburger, chairman and CEO of Time Equities, told TRD he grew up in Forest Hills, but left home at 15 to live with his 18-year old girlfriend in Manhattan. Ian Bruce Eichner, chairman of Continuum Companies, is a big New York name, but was included on TRD’s South Florida list. He grew up in Sunnyside, Queens.

And who could forget Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan Chase CEO who directed the firm’s development of its new skyscraper headquarters at 270 Park Avenue. He grew up in Jackson Heights.

Rounding out the list is President Donald Trump, who grew up in Jamaica Estates.

Holding down the Bronx, Steve Roth, chairman and CEO of Vornado Realty Trust, was born in the borough and attended DeWitt Clinton High School.

Pamela Liebman, top broker with the Corcoran Group, grew up in Staten Island.