REBNY Honors Resi Dealmakers at 2026 Deal of the Year Awards

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Compass’ Dakota Scotto and Lawrence Rich were honored this week by The Real Estate Board of New York … for a deal that didn’t happen.

The rental deal was perhaps the juiciest of the industry war stories that earned top honors at the trade group’s 37th annual Residential Deal of the Year Awards ceremony on Thursday.

The pair had a penthouse rental that quickly got an above-ask offer after hitting the market. But rather than take the cash and split, Scotto and Rich sniffed out trouble after the applicant had delays in providing standard documentation and funds.

They ended up taking another applicant’s full-ask offer and learned days later that their instincts were spot on when they saw the original candidate’s mugshot on the news.

Compass’ Dakota Scotto and Lawrence Rich

Roughly 360 attendees mingled at Midtown venue Gustavino’s for the event, which highlights residential brokers in the city and raises funds for agents in need. Agents and executives munched on mushroom toast and shrimp cocktail during the red carpet and later lined up for a buffet-style dinner that allowed for the real schmoozing to commence as the evening wore on.

Among the executives in attendance was Brown Harris Stevens CEO Bess Freedman, who received a standing ovation after receiving the Henry Forster Memorial Award for her influence in and outside of the industry. Douglas Elliman CEO Michael Liebowitz was spotted heading down the space’s spiral staircase before the night’s deal awards were announced (he told The Real Deal he had a call to make).

Alta Real Estate’s Rick Kelly and Sotheby’s International Realty Jeremy Stein took home the evening’s top prize, the Residential Sales Deal of the Year, after selling a Midtown condo that had been on the market for 10 years and gone through four different broker teams. (Compass’ Jason Haber, who had a deal nominated, did not “walk on stage and steal the award,” as he told TRD he might during the red carpet).

The group named Compass’ Beth Gittleman the Residential Agent of the Year and fellow Compass agent Lauren Weigand the Residential Rookie of the Year.

William Abramson of Buchbinder & Warren was awarded the Eileen Spinola Award for Distinguished Service for his dedication to education, ethics and advocacy in the industry.