Closed! NYC's Real Estate Podcast

On today's episode of Closed! Emily and Mike chat with 18 year veteran of Community Board 5, Layla Law-Gisiko, about her experience and role in helping to shape development of midtown Manhattan. We have a very informative chat with Layla about what a New York Community Board does, how she got involved, and the enormous ways that you can impact your community through political activism. We learn ab...

On this week's episode of Closed! Lee and Brad chat with award-winning broker Eric Anton of the Anton Group at Marcus & Millichap about the state of the market and insight into his most memorable deals. We get the scoop on Eric's expectations in the commercial real estate market and a behind the scenes look at his policy of building strong business relationships on commonality and communicatio...

On this episode of the Closed! Podcast, Lee and Brad chat with Yiannes Einhorn, a developer with experience on projects across NYC through his organization Grid Group. In our wide-ranging discussion we touch on Yiannes' entrance into development, commitment to quality construction, his father's role in pioneering home inspections, and even Brad's favorite: access agreements! It’s a conversation as...

Check out the BFKP team in their series unpacking legal issues in movies and TV shows, "Objection! You're Fiction" On this holiday edition of Objection! Your Fiction, BFKP team members Lee, Brad, and Emily talk about the 1994 film  The Santa Clause.  Like any good children’s movie, it opens with the accidental death of Santa Claus and a coat-based contract. But how enforceable is this “S...

On this episode of the Closed! Podcast, Cooper and Emily chat with Michael Fabbri, a luxury real estate broker with The Agency RE. In his first year as a broker, he earned Corcoran's Manhattan Rookie Broker of the Year award for earning over $10 million in sales volume. He talks about the importance of leveraging social media as an agent, recent preference changes in luxury amenities, and gives th...

On this episode of the Closed! podcast, Lee and Mike chat with Jay Martin, the Executive Director of the Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP), where he advocates for fair housing policies in New York City. Martin discusses a lack of understanding of the NYC housing market, the power tenant groups have over lawmakers, and potential policy solutions to improve housing for all New Yorkers. Ma...

On this episode of the Closed! podcast, Cooper and Lee chat with renowned developer, Robert A. Levine, the founder and CEO of RAL, who has been responsible for the development of more than 100 luxury residential, hotel and mixed-use projects throughout the country totaling in the hundreds of millions of dollars in project valuations. The conversation focuses on Mr. Levine's experience developing O...

On this episode of the Closed! podcast Brad and Cooper chat with David Lombino, the managing director of external affairs at Two Trees, about the newly opened Refinery at Domino. The Refinery at Domino is the centerpiece of the 11-acre Domino Sugar Factory site in Williamsburg -- a 15-story, 460,000-square-foot Class A office space built within an industrial brick structure originally completed in...

On this episode of the Closed! podcast, Lee and Cooper chat with Stephen Wendell, Founder and CEO of Mountain Shore Properties, a company that develops commercial and residential properties across the US. During the conversation Stephen discusses how Mountain Shore vets and selects its projects, how the pandemic impacted travel trends, and the challenges the company faced when recently developing...

On this episode of Closed! Mike and Lee chat with Councilman Joe Borelli, the Council Minority Leader from Staten Island, about NYC's affordable housing crisis. The conversation focuses on why it's so difficult to construct new units in NYC, how the end of 421a is affecting development, and potential compromises between the right and left on housing issues. They also discuss why so many rent stabi...

On this episode of the Closed podcast Lee and Cooper chat with Briggs Elwell, the CEO and co-founder of RLTY Capital, a New York-based specialty finance firm for the real estate community offering a comprehensive suite of services for agents. During this conversation Briggs explains the nuts and bolts of RLTY's platform for advancing commissions for agents. Briggs also shares details about the sui...

On this episode of Closed! we chat with New York Times best selling author William Cohan about the current state of the commercial real estate market. The conversation focuses on how the dual blows of the pandemic and rapidly rising rates have put the squeeze on owners of class B real estate, and the holders of office focused REITs. Cohan also shares his thoughts on the what future looks like for...

In this episode of the Closed Podcast, Lee Bergstein and Mike Flynn chat with Filippo Incorvaia, the CEO of FI Real Estate based in Miami. During this conversation Filippo explains how he is using AI tools like ChatGPT to improve systems and maximize efficiency within his business. He also shares how AI technologies have the potential to reshape the world of real estate and provides some practical...

David Sheldon is a coordinator and member of the community advocacy group Save Our Seaport, which is part of the Seaport Coalition. The Seaport Coalition recently came out victorious in a lawsuit against the Landmark Preservation Committee (LPC) over approval to build a tower in place of a parking lot ( ​​South St. Seaport Coalition v. LPC ). In this episode of the Closed podcast Cooper Knowlton a...

In this episode of the Closed! podcast, Lee Bergstein and Bradley Pollina chat with Suzannah Cavanaugh, a reporter and podcast producer at The Real Deal, where her work focuses on the intersection of CRE and public policy. In this conversation they discuss how the recent banking crisis is impacting owners of rent stabilized properties in New York City and what that might mean for the future of ren...

In this episode of Closed! Lee Bergstein and Emily Ashe chat with Irina Strembitsky, the director of sales at Life at Sea Cruises, the world’s first three-year world cruise, which covers more than 130,000 miles, visiting 375 ports across 135 countries and seven continents. During this conversation they chat about the origin of the three-year world cruise project, how Life at Sea came up with the t...

In 2023 we are kicking things off with a "Prediction Episode" where we attempt to make sense of what the NYC housing and commercial real estate markets will look like over the coming year. During the conversation we chat about how interest rates will continue to shape deal flow in the housing market, affordability in the rental markets, and the possibility of new tax abatements for developers. We...

On this episode of the Closed! podcast Cooper sits down for a one-on-one interview with Peter Grazioli, a licensed real estate salesperson with Brown Harris Stevens, based in Brooklyn. During the conversation they touch on what makes Brooklyn an outlier in the greater housing ecosystem, how rising interest rates are shaping buyers decisions, and other trends affecting the market. They also look at...

In this special explainer episode, Lee Bergstein, Mike Flynn, and Cooper Knowlton answer a common question: What exactly is a “Good Guy Guarantee?” Join to learn about the misconceptions and pitfalls of this subject, different “Good Guy Guarantee" scenarios and much more! As always let us know what you think. To find out more about Bergstein Flynn Knowlton & Pollina PLLC, visit our website at...

On this episode we chat with Hari Kalyan, who is a partner with Warren Kalyan & Mattocks and the co-founder of Randolph beer. He gives insight on how New York is functioning in a post pandemic world, explaining how remote work has affected the hospitality business, why cannabis licensing is more inclusive than liquor licensing, and much more. You definitely don’t want to miss this episode. As...

Openigloo is a new startup that aims to bring transparency to NYC's apartment-hunting process by gathering public information on thousands of rental buildings in the five boroughs into a single app. On this episode we chat with Allia Mohamed the founder of Openigloo who shares the story of the platform's launch in 2020, the unique ways in which they collect and aggregate data on the rental ma...

In this episode Cooper Knowlton and Emily Cajigas chat with Kate Wittels, a partner at the consulting firm of HR&A, where she advises governments, developers, and businesses on leveraging technology and forging connections to create districts, workforces, and economies that are ready for the future. The conversation focuses on innovation districts -- understanding how they're formed, what they...

Howard Husock is a senior fellow in Domestic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he focuses on municipal government, urban housing policy, civil society, and philanthropy. On this episode Lee Bergstein and Cooper Knowlton chat with Howard about the end of 421-a tax subsidy and the future of NYC's real estate tax system. The 421-a subsidy was a tax break where developer...

On this episode of Closed! Emily Cajigas and Cooper Knowlton chat with journalist Kim Velsey about a variety of topics related to the New York City housing market including how Airbnb rentals are affecting supply, bidding wars, and the proposed Good Cause Eviction Bill. They also address the new changes to the rent stabilization laws and how brokers are responding to the tightening market. It's a...

In this episode David Friedman and Cooper Knowlton chat with Professor Richard Peiser. Professor Peiser is the Michael D. Spear Professor of Real Estate Development at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, and wrote the textbook for Professional Real Estate Development. His most recent academic offerings include the Urban Land Institute’s “Guide to the Business” of Professional Real Estate Developm...