David Cenaffra

“Service is the supreme commitment of life.” – Will H. Hays

My deeply-rooted history in the New York area and real estate begins before our country was founded. My direct family lineage is Davenport, as in Thomas “The Pioneer” Davenport, pioneer of Philipstown, NY, and the Village of Cold Spring. Constitution Island at its southern tip was the Eastern anchor point for George Washington and West Point in the strategic “Great Chain” defense of the Hudson River. Cold Spring is also home to the first public water pipes for New York, the first passenger train, and the birth/resting place of another relative – Emily Warren Roebling, chief engineer who completed the construction of The Brooklyn Bridge.

On the other side of my family, my great-great-grandfather was an orchestra leader, co-founder of BVD Underwear, and a Broadway show financier. His daughter married my great-grandfather, a theater owner/builder/operator and executive for over 50 years in the movie and entertainment business.

Active in film, vaudeville, live theater, music, and television, my great-grandfather started his career at 16 working directly for theater impresario F.F. Proctor in Manhattan. Holding different posts with Proctor, RKO, and his own theater holdings, he and his associates assembled the largest theater chain in the United States with The Stanley Company — part of the big Warner Bros. Pictures’ expansion through the Sound Era and Golden Age of Hollywood.

The theaters of the day were luxury palaces, like the Brooklyn Paramount, Radio City, the Palace Theater in Albany, NY, Proctor’s Theater (where Mariah Carey filmed her 1993 NBC Thanksgiving Special turned longest-charting video concert), and The Stanley Theater in Jersey City. The Stanley was the largest theater on the East Coast after Radio City, and to this day, hangs a chandelier from the original Waldorf-Astoria after demolished to make way for the development of the Empire State Building.

During the 1920s, Warner Bros. revolutionized the movie, music, and live entertainment industries when they acquired and pioneered sound to film with the Vitaphone technology in New York. Located first on the roof of 140 Nassau Street in Manhattan, and later opening the first modern film studio in the United States in Midwood, Brooklyn, Vitaphone was developed as the last major analog sound-on-disc system. Importantly, it was the only one that was widely used and commercially successful in a world that denied this technology advancement due to cost. Vitaphone shorts created in New York and shown prior to feature films would launch the sound revolution in Hollywood and early “pop music stars” with short-form video content. I like to call it the first TikTok.

‘The Jazz Singer’ was Warner Bros.’ first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music and lip-synchronous singing and speech. The cash from its success, as well as ‘The Singing Fool’, helped it complete a major merger that combined the assets of Warner, including Vitaphone, and Stanley. This real estate was integral to the production and exhibition of projects. In addition to the portfolio of theaters, Stanley also controlled the major film studio competitor First National Pictures, which developed what is now famously known as the Warner Bros. Studios lot in Burbank, California. This production facility has been used to produce many projects in the cultural zeitgeist over the past century, including my favorite TV show, “Friends.” This giant gamble by all involved completely changed the world, and the real estate assets were the key component that helped Warner Bros. expand into the renowned brand it is in entertainment today.

My great-grandfather helped launch stars of the day like Fred Astaire, Bob Hope, Jack Benny, the Marx Brothers,. He also served as New York State chairman of the motion picture industry’s WWII war bond campaign. A figure in the press, one of my favorite articles is where he talked about coordinating the early movie trailers. I’m humbled and honored that his life’s work helped influence virtually everything we do today.

Later, an antitrust decree resulted in Warner divesting the theater holdings into a new company headed by business partner and Warner Bros. Board of Directors, Simon Fabian. This new company, Stanley Warner, became a conglomerate, moving into television, as well as acquiring International Latex Corp (parent of Playtex). Playtex pioneered sex in advertising by becoming the first to advertise bras and undergarments on network television. They also developed the space suits for the Apollo mission to the Moon, including a customized suit for Neil Armstrong.

My grandfather grew up on the Upper West Side and volunteered for the Navy at 17. After honorable discharge, he used his training in between acting gigs to get his Masters of Science in Engineering at Columbia University. Instead of choosing a career in film and television, the story goes he fell in love with my grandmother in New York on a blind date after dating Barbara Walters. An industrial engineer, they started their life together and he later founded a computer software conglomerate in Manhattan known for pushing the boundaries of technology and business even prior to the internet age. He was an early pioneer of software engineering, coding and developing custom accounting applications for businesses nationwide. My namesake, he was a great influence and showed me the early stages of consumer internet, data centers, and live streaming.

My grandmother, who graduated from Pratt, added her unique touch to our family story as an interior decorator with a custom gift shop, blending creativity with entrepreneurial spirit. She is the reason I still do handwritten thank you cards.

Growing up in a dynamic environment, I am inspired by architecture, design, and the ever-evolving world of technology, all of which play a crucial role in my approach to real estate.

My career started in songwriting, where I was able to work with music professionals who have won Grammy awards, sold millions of records, and performed on the world’s biggest stages. It taught me the importance of dedication, passion, and the ability to connect with others.

Later, I got my real estate license and within 2 years, built an Instagram account to thousands of followers, became a producer in the non-exclusive, open listing rental space, and was invited to join a Top 5 sales team at Douglas Elliman. While there, I was invited by past colleagues to utilize my media, marketing, and sales skills to help revamp the brokerage’s rental department. I was the only agent working alongside the executive leasing management team in the office that turned into their agent training center. Mix in a list of multimillion dollar sales, a couple of tries at reality TV, and I was primed for doing something of my own.

Both before and after starting HYFTO, I have been involved in various projects. My experience includes producing content and websites, events for New York Fashion Week or with some of the biggest brands in the world, marketing an urgent care, increasing sales for a co-working tech startup to be acquired by a leader in its category, and more. This is only a short list of how my clients have drawn on my extensive marketing skills and real estate expertise. All of the experience, resulting in acquiring skillsets to help me to get condos, townhouses, and development sites sold for top dollar and under tight demands. I don’t need to outsource anything.

The proudest part of the journey is that I never really felt comfortable talking about myself until recently, so everything before and after starting HYFTO has been on my own hard work and merit.

Having lived my whole life in the New York area, I’m deeply intertwined with its essence and have a deep understanding of its heartbeat. I’m the guy people ask for directions, and my goal is to innovate and be of service in helping you navigate your dreams and aspirations.