NYS Commercial Assoc. of Realtors president’s message-November 2026 - by Mercedes Brien

The NYSCAR Board of Governors met this fall in September at Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona and in October via zoom. The board voted to increase the number of meetings annually to five to accomplish our objectives.

Committee reports were given and NYSCAR Chapter presidents gave updates on the local chapters as well as market conditions in their area.

The following members were nominated as follows:  President, Mercedes Brien (RAC), first VP, Carolyn Vinci (WNY), second VP, Andrew Mangini (Grtr Capital) and treasurer, Hilary Goldman (HV). The following members were nominated  as governors with a term expiring in 2029:  Dawn Carpenter (SI), Teresa Belmore (Scarsdale), Don Minichino (HV), Karen Zalewski-Wildzunas (Grtr Capital) and Howell Silverman (NYC/LI) term 2027.

The committees are working hard to further the goals of the association.

The Communications Technology Committee (Mark Rohlin and Ira Zucker) recently sent our membership a survey regarding “news source information.”  Please be sure to answer the questions and submit the survey as soon as possible.

RPAC chair Mike Johnson was pleased to announce that NYSCAR raised $8,700 for RPAC so far this year!  Your RPAC donation is important and appreciated by the association.

The 2027 NYSCAR Conference committee( Andrew Mangini and Don Minicho, co-chairs) are planning some changes for our annual conference this year. SAVE the DATE- October 5-7, 2027, at Del Largo Cosino, Waterloo. Sponsorships are available at NYSCAR.org

The Professional Development Committee (Ed Gallacher, CCIM and Jessica Richer, co-chairs) is scheduling pertinent commercial real estate courses as well as courses needed for NYS license renewal.  

Please be sure to check nyscar.org for information on membership, the NYSCAR chapters, education programs and more.

Mercedes Brien, CEA, is a licensed real estate broker with Yaman Commercial, Cortland, NY and is the 2026 president of the NYS Commercial Assn. of Realtors (NYSCAR), Albany, NY.