RDNY: The Marketplace For Renters & Landlords

RDNY Is the New York City & Metro New Jersey Marketplace For 100% No Broker Fee Apartments - Guaranteed. RDNY provides renters with the best apartment search solution for over fifteen years. Fast, easy, affordable and full of choices, RDNY provide both renters and landlords with the resources they need to quickly and cost-effectively rent their next apartment.

Renters Love Us

More than 200,000 renters a year visit RDNY to search for a no broker fee apartment. Our up-to-date listings provide renters with everything they need to locate a great apartment quickly, easily and cost effectively. To keep our members fully informed, we send out over 50,000 opt-in email alerts per day to RDNY members and registered users informing them of the newest apartments on the market, rent reductions, landlord incentives and open houses.

We're More Than Just Listings

Our RDNY Customer Support Agents provide customized attention to each member, providing them with the answers to their questions on everything from NYC apartment hunting strategies, to neighborhood information, to landlord negotiation tips. Renters with difficult situations, such as bad credit, pets, no rental history, students or those coming from out of town, find RDNY’s Advisors key to their rental success.

Something for Every Renter

With direct connections to so many landlords and properties, we have apartments for every renter. Whether it's a rent-stabilized studio in the East Village or a two bedroom in an East Side luxury apartment building, a large floor-through in Park Slope or a house in Forest Hills, we have it. RDNY lists apartments ranging from $800 to $9,000 throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and nearby areas of New Jersey. We also have the largest inventory of NYC rent-stabilized apartments available online.

Landlords Love Us Too

Over 3,500 landlords list their available apartments on RDNY. In fact, RDNY has improved the process of finding quality tenants so much that many landlords now use our service almost exclusively - saying good-bye to the antiquated commission-paid broker system. Approved landlords can easily post and update their apartment listings at no charge by speaking with one of our listings professionals or via our exclusive online landlord services portal, rent-directlandlords.com. Landlords now receive immediate exposure to thousands of serious prospective tenants looking for apartments in all neighborhoods of New York City and the surrounding area.

RDNY’s Leadership

Laurence Rosenberg, President, Founding Partner

Laurence Rosenberg is a real estate professional with over thirty-five years of experience in the New York Metro area real estate market. His professional experience spans various functions within the industry including residential and rental brokerage, sales management and the co-ownership of a real estate brokerage agency.

In particular, Mr. Rosenberg has acted as a sales agent for the New York based firms of Rodman Realty, Kanelba & Robilotti and Time Equities Inc. While at Time Equities Inc., Mr. Rosenberg served as the Regional Sales Manager of Residential Sales and Leasing, where he successfully spearheaded the sales campaign of several large scale co-op conversions in the metro area. Mr. Rosenberg was also co-owner of Swift & Watson Realty, a boutique real estate firm dedicated to servicing the specific needs of the Greenwich Village community. While under his direction, Swift & Watson was the first rental agency to be admitted into the exclusive Downtown Brokers Association.

Having worked within multiple roles in the real estate industry, Mr. Rosenberg was able to foresee the potential success of uniting the real estate industry with the growing trend of Internet marketplaces. Thus, RDNY (initially known as Rent-Direct.com) was established in 1995. Together with partner Ralph Barocas, Mr. Rosenberg has developed RDNY to become the number-one source of no- broker-fee apartment rentals in the New York metro area.

Ralph Barocas, Vice-President, Founding Partner

Ralph Barocas is a real estate and visual design specialist with over 30 years of experience in blending technology and real estate services. Specifically, Mr. Barocas was the driving force responsible for the creation of BrokerNet, the real estate industry’s first computer-based multiple-listing service. He acted successfully as a rental broker, sales and listings manager with various high-profile New York metro area realtors. Mr. Barocas founded Brochures Plus, a one-stop graphic design service, combining photography, desktop publishing, and in-house color printing.

In 1995 Mr. Barocas brought the blueprint of Apartments Illustrated, Inc. now known as RDNY (Rent Direct New York) to Laurence Rosenberg, who he knew from when he did work for Time Equities. While working as a traditional broker in the rental industry, Mr. Barocas felt there was a better, more efficient way for a person to rent an apartment without having to pay a broker's fee. He thought to combine verified updated apartment rental information, building and apartment photos, maps, and neighborhood information all under one environment, then sell a subscription to that information along with support, to people who were looking to rent a new apartment. Renters would rent the apartment directly from the landlord without having to pay the broker fee.

The company started out providing its verified content and illustrations to its customers in the form of an illustrated book with neighborhood and building pictures that referenced available unit id numbers, followed by auto fax updates, which then led to internet interaction and e-commerce.

Company Milestones

1995

Successful local real estate professionals, Ralph Barocas and Larry Rosenberg, found Apartments Illustrated, Inc., parent company to RDNY, as a means to fill a void in the real estate market of no-broker-fee apartments. They decide to capitalize on emerging technologies to provide renters up to the minute information on vacancies by using pagers and fax machines.

1996

Founders recognize the potential of providing information over the internet and Rent-Direct.com is launched and becomes the number one marketplace for no-broker-fee apartment rentals in the New York City metro area.

1999

Company partners with RentNet.com to expand its database of no-broker-fee apartments even wider.

2000

Develops strategic alliances with the world’s largest real estate website, Homestore.com and with newyork.citysearch.com.

2001

Company is nominated by industry peer, The Cartis Corporation, for prestigious Crain’s Small Business Award.

2002

Company launches Rent-DirectLandlords.com, pioneering the use of an online solution for landlords to list vacancies directly into the search engine database bringing information to its customers at an even faster pace.

2003

Partners with real estate giant Apartments.com to power its NYC apartment search engine. Moves corporate headquarters to an even larger location and builds a free apartment search internet café to assist subscribers in their apartment searches.

2004

Launches all new technology and design of website to make apartment search even easier with maps, neighborhood information and expanded listings in New Jersey and Westchester.

2008

Brand makeover under the RDNY name with introduction of a new web site, logo, and colors.

2009

RDNY recruits and trains a full sales and customer support staff from across the U.S. to work virtually.

2010

Major technology upgrades to the company's proprietary database allow for faster search speeds and the opportunity to implement major new technologies. RDNY is always looking to remain in the forefront of the New York apartment rental industry.