After a post-primary spike in donations from real estate executives, Mayor Eric Adams’ campaign saw contributions from the industry level off.
Real estate donors gave Adams a little more than $60,500 between July 12 and August 18, according to the latest filings with the city’s Campaign Finance Board. That’s down considerably from the more than $480,000 he received from the industry between June 25 and July 11, following former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s defeat in the Democratic primary.
The sudden boost from the industry was seen as an early sign that real estate professionals — who had rallied behind Cuomo’s campaign leading up to the primary — were shifting support to the mayor’s re-election bid.
But over the last month, Adams, who is running as an independent, has ranked fourth in multiple polls, trailing behind Assembly member and Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa. Though he escaped federal corruption charges himself, allegations have continued to plague his inner circle. Last week, current and former members of his administration were indicted on charges related to speeding up construction approvals and steering contracts to certain developers.
The real estate contributions during the latest filing period — based on donors who self-reported working within various sectors of the industry — represent roughly 14 percent of the total $425,000 Adams brought in over the last month. During the previous filing period, he received $1.5 million in total donations.
Todd Shapiro, a spokesperson for the Adams campaign, brushed off any suggestion that the latest donations indicate waning enthusiasm among industry players. He pointed to a number of fundraisers held by real estate executives after the primary.
SL Green Realty’s Marc Holliday hosted a fundraiser for Adams in July, and employees of the real estate investment trust donated more than $67,000 to the mayor’s re-election period after the primary. Shapiro noted that the donations and fundraisers happen at different times, and looking at one filing period fails to account for big-picture support from the industry.
“The real estate industry wholeheartedly supports Mayor Eric Adams,” he said.
Before news of the indictments, as well as reports that one of his campaign advisors handed a reporter a potato chip bag stuffed with cash, real estate executives gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Empower NYC, a super PAC backing Adams.
An LLC tied to Two Trees Management gave the super PAC $100,000 on August 11. GFP Real Estate’s Jeff Gural contributed $25,000 on August 15. In an email, Gural said he still thinks Adams is the best choice, but acknowledged that the “latest batch of arrests make it much harder for that to happen.” He doesn’t, however, intend to support another candidate.
Developer Gary Barnett gave the PAC $250,000 on July 2, and billionaire Alexander Rovt donated $15,000 on June 6. Officials paused a city office lease at Rovt’s 14 Wall Street in November amid questions of whether the property got special treatment because of Rovt’s previous support of Adams. The administration ultimately allowed the lease to move forward.
Those who gave the Adams campaign the maximum $2,100 include Tao Group Hospitality co-CEOs Noah Tepperberg and Jason Strauss, based out of Manhattan and Las Vegas, respectively; Harry Bajraktari, whose eponymous Bronx firm owns and manages more than 70 buildings; Corcoran broker Dana Power; Nest Seekers broker Andy Kim; Adam Falk, a principal and co-portfolio manager at BH3 Management in Manhattan; Cushman & Wakefield’s Gil Gideon; and Broadway Construction Group’s Joseph Aiello.
Landlord Paul Gjonaj gave $1,000, while his brother, former Bronx Council member Mark Gjonaj, also an owner and property manager, gave $500. The former Council member, who had been subject to a probe related to government contracts awarded to campaign donors (no charges or discipline were ever announced), dropped his bid for re-election in 2021, telling City & State that the “current political climate is not favorable to a centrist ideology.”
Cuomo’s donations from the industry have bounced back since the last filing period. Over the last month, he brought in a little more than $53,700 from the real estate industry. After the primary through July 11, he only received $2,115 in total, with a $25 donation from one real estate agent (at the time, Cuomo’s team indicated that the campaign had stopped fundraising after maxing out on donations ahead of the primary).
RFR Realty’s Charles and Gabriel Rosen each gave $2,100 in August. Others who gave the maximum amount to Cuomo during this filing period include Icon Realty Management’s Todd Cohen, CBRE’s Ken Meyerson, Florida developer Peter Brock and Rob Vecsler, CEO of Hyperion Group, a development firm based in Manhattan and Miami.
Between July 12 and August 18, the Cuomo campaign reported receiving just over $472,500 in donations. The campaign also transferred $68,000 from a state account.
The super PAC, Fix the City, received millions of dollars from industry donors in the lead-up to the primary. The PAC has indicated that it will still support Cuomo in the general election, but it hasn’t received many contributions from real estate donors since the June primary. Equity Residential gave it $10,000 earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Mamdani reported taking in more than $1 million during this period. Though many in the industry have been critical of Mamdani’s policies, some have donated to his campaign. They tend, however, to be nonprofit or affordable developers or otherwise smaller industry players.
One developer who donated to Mamdani explained that his support was a product simply of Mamdani being the Democratic nominee, and that the developer’s kids are roughly the same age as the Assembly member and are supporting him.
Mamdani’s latest filings indicate that roughly $19,700 came from real estate-related donors. That included a $2,100 contribution from Obaid Khan, chief financial officer at Tishman Realty.
Over the last month, Sliwa raised roughly $406,400, with more than $9,000 coming from real estate donors. Attorney Jim Walden, who is running as an independent, received a total of $8,200 over the last month and reported some small donations from construction professionals.
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