4. Scott Rechler

For years, Scott Rechler has eschewed the limelight despite his involvement in some of the most high-profile real estate developments in New York and Long Island. Rechler is CEO and chairman of RXR Realty, LLC, which controls 25 million square feet of real estate in the Tri-State area worth more than $15 billion. Rechler’s properties are jewels in the world of real estate, and he is widely seen as the architect of some of the most successful deals in the region. Part of what makes him unique in the ego-driven world of New York real estate is his low-key demeanor and genuine desire to improve the quality of life of the residents in the communities where he owns property. Rechler is not only on the short list of people whom Gov. Andrew Cuomo trusts, but he even had the gravitas to broker a recent meeting between then-President-elect Trump and Martin Luther King III to promote voting rights on behalf of the Drum Major Institute, a progressive policy think tank the civil rights icon’s son heads. It’s this type of finesse that embodies Rechler’s political acumen and is likely the reason why his next act—developing Garvies Point in Glen Cove—is bound to be even more impressive, considering the rampant NIMBY mentality on Long Island that scorches large-scale development of any kind.