Bisnow's podcast, Make Yourself At Home, hears from members of the commercial real estate industry about how they are managing this new reality and gaining insight into their day-to-day approaches. You can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify and Amazon Music.

On this episode, Real Estate Board of New York Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Reggie Thomas discusses how the powerful industry group will lobby in 2021, the impact of a unified federal government and how real estate can help with the testing and vaccine effort.

"During times of economic crisis, the first thing that usually goes is investment; it's like, 'Oh do we need to invest in this, or do we put it off till later?'" Thomas said on the podcast. "Now is the time to double down and triple down." 

When it comes to federal funding, he said financial support for renters is the biggest priority for New York City real estate, along with investment in infrastructure like the Gateway Tunnel Project. 

“There's just at least going to be an opportunity for momentum in D.C. ... When you have a split legislature the way that we've had for so many years, it's caused so much gridlock,” he said. “At least now that there is a single party that both the House of Representatives, the Senate … at least we can be able to see some more forward momentum.”