Shown above (from left) are: Sharlene Brown, director of Bronx Y, judge Eugene Oliver, assemblyman Mark Gjonaj, and Eliezer Rodriguez, Esq., CEO of BMNAR at last years Annual Banquet.

Once a year, for the past 93 years, The Bronx Manhattan North Association of Realtors, (BMNAR) has hosted a Black-Tie affair to honor Realtors, affiliates, and distinguished community leaders. BMNAR is a professional trade association officially representing the real estate industry and is the local chapter for the New York State Association of Realtors. BMNAR encourages other companies servicing the real estate industry to join our team.

Our team will gather on April 25, 2018, at the luxurious Marina del Rey to host the 94th Annual Banquet. The affair is a major networking event that attracts The Who’s Who in the real estate industry. An impressive group of industry leaders and elected officials will be in attendance as guests on the dais. The networking cocktail hour begins at 5:30 p.m. followed by the program and formal dinner from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

This year, we have a distinguished slate of honorees. The 2018 Honorees are: 

• Realtor of the Year: Vincent Buccieri of Today Realty Group; 
• Realtor Associate of the Year: Hellen Fisk of Laujel Realty Corp.; 
• Affiliate Member of the Year: Andy Bowden/Michael Harbater of CS Brown Co.; 
• Institutional Member of the Year: Raul Hiraldo of Citibank; 
• Heritage Award: Michael and Matthew Schmelzer of Tryax Realty Management Inc.; 
• The Distinguished Service Award: Hon. Marcos Crespo, assemblyman– District 85 and chairman of the Bronx Democratic County Committee; and
• The Community Leadership Award: Raul Russi, CEO of Acacia Network. This award goes to a man who was one of the first to assist Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria by launching www.DonatePuertoRico.com Campaign and by donating $1 million (and pledging to raise another million).

BMNAR loves its family and will also recognize members for their years of membership: 

40 Years:

• David Fiederlein of D.F. Consulting;
• Joseph Villani of Villani Realty Group; and
• John Brown of Robert E. Hill, Inc. 

30 Years:

• Arnold Waldman of CBS Coverage Group and
• Susan Baldwin of Robert E. Hill, Inc. 

25 Years:

• William Schur of Schur Management Co., Ltd. and
• Hale Rickman of Jerome Associates LLC. 

20 Years:

• Bill Mogg of Lift-Tech Ltd.;
• Stephen Wolinetz of Wolinetz Management LLC;
• Arthur Meltser of Goodman Management Co., Inc.;
• Margo Navarro of Langsam Property Services Corp.;
• Jeffrey Hass of VC17, LLC;
• Peter Bourbeau of PWB Management; and
• Thomas Webler of PWB Management. 

The guest speaker for the evening is yet to be determined, but an invitation was sent to the mayor of New York City, hon. Bill De Blasio and to the speaker councilman of the city council, hon. Cory Johnson. 

If you are interested in celebrating with our 2018 honorees, please call (718) 892-3000 to reserve your seat today and to find out more about our sponsorship opportunities.

See you there! 

Eliezer Rodriguez, Esq. is the chief executive officer of The Bronx-Manhattan North Association of Realtors, Bronx, N.Y.