Jason Haber wants every licensed real estate agent in New York City registered to vote, and on Tuesday he launched Built for New York to do it.
Built for New York, a 501(c)(4) supported by the American Real Estate Association, will run a year-round political operation for the city’s real estate industry, Haber told Inman. The group plans to register agents to vote, build a voter file, run targeted get-out-the-vote efforts and place office captains inside brokerages, according to Haber and the group’s website.
“We are building a durable, lasting political operation that will be staffed by professionals,” Haber said.
He said the group is modeled after municipal unions such as 1199SEIU and 32BJ SEIU and the Democratic Socialists of America.
The New York Times first reported the launch. Haber told the Times that about $500,000 has been committed to the group.
The group launches after several tenant-focused policy changes in New York. State lawmakers passed the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act in 2019; the City Council passed the FARE Act in 2024, shifting broker fees to the party that hires the agent; and voters elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani in 2025 after he campaigned on freezing rents for stabilized apartments.
Haber addressed the group’s relationship with tenants in an Instagram post on Tuesday.
“The Times asks whether real estate can out-organize tenants. My answer: We’re not organizing against tenants. We’re organizing with them,” Haber wrote.
The group’s website describes it as a nonpartisan coalition of agents, brokers, homeowners, co-op shareholders and tenants. Sumathy Kumar, managing director of the New York State Tenant Bloc, told the Times her group’s momentum would continue to build regardless of the industry’s organizing.
ARA’s role
Haber, a Compass agent, co-founded ARA with The Agency CEO Mauricio Umansky in January 2024 at Inman Connect New York. The association grew out of the NAR Accountability Project, which Haber started in 2023 after sexual misconduct allegations against then-NAR President Kenny Parcell, Inman reported.
“We launched the ARA to provide a unified voice of reason at a time of immense transition,” Haber and Umansky said in a joint statement in June.
Haber chairs Built for New York.
ARA supports the new group, and the two operate as separate organizations, Haber told Inman. ARA is a 501(c)(6) trade association, and the two have separate bank accounts and staff, he said. ARA has grown to about 30,000 members, according to the association, and its first local chapter is in New York City.
“Since day 1, our vision at ARA has been to elevate our industry. One way you do that is by making our community a force at the polls,” Haber said in a statement to Inman. “We do well as an industry at writing checks and funding campaigns. What I’m excited about is now we can build on that by collectively organizing our industry into a powerhouse voter bloc that elected officials need to recognize and reckon with.”
What agents will be asked to do
Before Tuesday, the group was known to its initial donors and to 25 top agents who attended a preview last week, Haber said. Sign-ups have started, and the group plans to place office captains in every office, he said. It is interviewing candidates for political director, which Haber described as its key hire.
“Today is really opening day for us,” he said.
Sarah Saltzberg, co-owner of Bohemia Realty Group, is among the group’s donors, according to the Times. Haber sits on the Real Estate Board of New York’s board of governors. He told the Times that REBNY’s roughly 14,000 members make it close in size to the local chapter of the DSA.
“We welcome the launch of Built for New York and support efforts to give more New Yorkers a voice, including through open primaries,” a REBNY spokesperson said in a statement to Inman. “REBNY will continue to keep our members informed and engaged in advocating for more housing, more jobs and a stronger future for New York City.”
The group’s website lists a Candidate Academy that will train candidates from any party in fundraising, messaging and field operations — for races from district leader to citywide office. The site also lists regular briefings on proposals from Albany and City Hall, along with nonpartisan policy information for agents to share with clients.
Open primaries
The group’s first major cause is opening New York City’s primaries to voters who are not enrolled in a party. Haber said many city-based real estate agents are registered as independents, which shuts them out of the elections that decide most local races.
Built for New York is supporting Citizens Union and Unite NY in their push for open primaries, and its goal is a ballot referendum in 2027, Haber said.
More than 1.1 million registered city voters are unaffiliated, according to Unite NY. The city’s 2025 Charter Revision Commission declined to put open primaries on the ballot, citing a lack of consensus, WFUV reported. Unite NY submitted more than 45,000 petition signatures this summer. The city rejected about 23,000 of them, and the group sued, according to Hoodline.
Plans for other cities
Haber said the group is thinking about how the model could scale nationally, naming Los Angeles and St. Louis as examples, though nothing is planned.
“It’s a scalable way to engage our industry and community,” he said.
Haber ran for City Council at 23, The Real Deal reported. Asked whether he plans to run for office again, he said he is focused on advocacy and his brokerage business.
“It’s a flattering question, but I’m really focused on my real estate advocacy and brokerage work,” Haber told Inman. “You never know what the future holds, but I’m not actively considering that.”
