In our latest newsletter, we’re highlighting our campaign for community controlled housing and sounding the alarm on predatory lending schemes that drain New Yorkers’ wages. We also salute our trailblazing legal director Susan Shin and celebrate an extraordinary gift from Yield Giving.
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We’re excited to share that New Economy Project was selected to receive a $2 million gift from the Yield Giving Open Call! This tremendous award will enable us to deepen our impact and take on ambitious new projects that expand community ownership and democratize our economy. Learn more.
TAKING TOPA TO THE TOP
With evictions skyrocketing and more than 100,000 New Yorkers unhoused, we are escalating campaigns that tackle root causes of the housing crisis, including unbridled real estate speculation.
In February, we co-organized a Brooklyn rally and an Albany day of action, kicking off the campaign to win TOPA (the NYS Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act) in 2024. We joined hundreds of tenants and organizers, as well as bill sponsor NYS Assembly Member Marcela Mitaynes, to demand passage of the bill.
New Economy Project helped craft New York’s TOPA bill, which would give tenants the first right to collectively buy their buildings when a landlord sells. Just this week, Gothamistfeatured East New York Community Land Trust’s historic acquisition of a 20-unit building that the group plans to convert to permanently affordable, tenant controlled housing – precisely the kind of transformative project TOPA would catalyze statewide.
Read the Gothamist article and check out this short reel from the Brooklyn rally.
STOP PHONE APP DEBT TRAPS
Predatory lending has long plagued Black and brown communities, and it’s increasingly rearing its head in the form of financial technology (“fintech”) firms and phone apps, like EarnIn and Dave, that claim to give people quicker access to their wages. In reality, these companies make payday loans – often with exorbitant fees and triple-digit interest rates.
The industry is currently swarming Albany, lobbying for carve-outs from New York’s 25% interest rate cap. As coordinators of the NYS Community Equity Agenda coalition, we’re mobilizing groups statewide to stop these Silicon Valley opportunists. Read our recent testimony before the state Assembly to learn more.
If you’ve used one of these fintech apps, we want to hear from you. Fill out this short form to share your experience – and help keep predatory lending out of New York!
Congratulations to our legal director Susan Shin who was just named to City & State’s inaugural Trailblazers in Law list, which “puts a spotlight on attorneys, academics, public officials and others who have shaken up the legal field in New York.”
Sue has been a force at New Economy Project and in the field for almost twenty years. As our legal director, she has spearheaded groundbreaking impact litigation, helmed our financial justice hotline, and much more. We profile Sue in this month’s blog post – check it out!
- HOT OFF THE PRESS! Gothamist: Want to own your NYC apartment? This nonprofit is helping renters buy their units
- New York Law Journal: NY Lawmakers Eye Bolstering Regulatory Framework for Fintech
- The Village Sun: Taking it to the banks: Tran tenants demand to meet with ‘bad landlord”s underwriters
- Amsterdam News: AM Mitaynes makes another push to pass TOPA housing law
- News12: Local leaders launch campaign to pass Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act [VIDEO]
- New York Focus: Hochul Sparks Outcry With Proposed Cash Transfer From Legal Aid Fund
- News12: New Economy Project report uncovering disparities in banking prompts calls for public bank in New York City [VIDEO]
- Public News Service: Proposed overdraft-fees rule would benefit NYers
- Law360: Quinn Emanuel Aids ‘Sewer Service’ Debt Collection Fight
New Economy Project, South Bronx Unite, and East New York Community Land Trust led a site visit for members of Forward Global, a network of donors, highlighting NYC’s growing CLT movement and recent wins.
Our staff presented Know Your Rights financial justice and public banking workshops and distributed resources to low-income New Yorkers, including newly arrived asylum seekers.
New Economy Project hosted MIT faculty and Fulbright urban planning fellows for a lively discussion about community land trusts, public banking and more, during their NYC study tour.
Where does NYC currently keep the vast majority of its billions of dollars in public deposits?
A. In a public bank chartered to serve the public interest
B. Invested in U.S. Treasury securities
C. In Wall Street megabanks, like Chase and Bank of America, that redline neighborhoods of color and invest in fossil fuels and predatory landlords
D. In a secret vault thought to be near Sheepshead Bay
Email your answer to abby@neweconomynyc.org for a shout out in our next newsletter.