FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 25, 2025
CONTACT: Katy Lasell, katy@neweconomynyc.org
ELECTED OFFICIALS AND HOUSING GROUPS RALLY AT CAPITOL FOR TENANT OPPORTUNITY TO PURCHASE ACT AND $250 MILLION IN BUDGET
Albany, NY – With private equity firms driving up home prices and eroding New York’s affordable housing stock, elected officials and housing groups held a rally and press conference at the New York State Capitol on Tuesday to call on the Governor and Legislature to pass the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) and allocate $250 million in the state budget to fund tenant-led building acquisitions.
At the rally, tenants called on Governor Hochul not to leave them behind. In her FY 2026 Executive Budget proposal, the Governor acknowledged the harmful role private equity plays in eroding affordable housing—proposing a 75-day waiting period for corporate purchases of single family homes. Her proposal, however, leaves millions of tenants in the crosshairs of predatory investors. Tenants described their ongoing fights to free buildings from exploitative and neglectful landlords, and demanded the Governor include TOPA and the acquisition fund in the budget to protect them and preserve New York’s dwindling affordable housing stock.
TOPA, sponsored by Senator Zellnor Myrie and Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes, would give tenants the first opportunity to collectively purchase their buildings when landlords sell—ensuring permanently affordable, community-controlled housing in low-income and Black and brown communities statewide. Under TOPA, tenants could work with nonprofit housing developers and community land trusts to convert their buildings to permanently affordable rentals or shared-equity cooperatives.
A $250 million TOPA acquisition and technical assistance fund, elected officials and housing advocates said, is critical to tackling the state’s housing crisis—providing the additional capital tenants and nonprofit housing groups need to buy buildings, stop speculation, and keep homes deeply and permanently affordable.
Housing justice advocates called attention to a 2023 Community Service Society poll showing New Yorkers overwhelmingly support TOPA. Community Land Trust (CLT) organizers highlighted the surge of CLTs in New York State over the past decade, describing how these nonprofit, community-controlled organizations are ready to support tenants in purchasing their buildings and converting them to permanently and deeply affordable housing using TOPA.
Washington D.C. and San Francisco’s TOPA programs have proven essential in those cities’ fights to preserve affordable housing, and local governments across the country are now pursuing their own TOPA programs.
Support for TOPA in the NYS legislature is broad and growing. This year, the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus named TOPA as a top priority in its 2025 People’s Budget Framework and Empower Black New York Agenda.
QUOTES:
“If the Governor and State Legislature are serious about stopping rampant predatory speculation, they can’t ignore the millions of rent-burdened tenants on the frontlines of New York’s housing crisis,” said Chelsea Diaz, a Skadden Legal Fellow at New Economy Project, which coordinates the NYC Community Land Initiative. “TOPA will give tenants and community land trusts a powerful tool to take land and housing off the speculative market and expand the supply of deeply-affordable, community-controlled housing in Black and brown neighborhoods.”
“Tenants across New York State have stepped up where negligent landlords have abandoned them. Tenants are paying for repairs, security systems and working together to bring their buildings back to dignified living conditions. If tenants can do this, they deserve the right to first refusal and an obtainable process to purchase their building,” said NYS Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes. “This is why I introduced the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act; tenants deserve the opportunity to build on their investment and own their building.”
“TOPA will give more New Yorkers a chance to purchase the homes they’ve been living in for years. In the midst of a generational housing crisis, I’m proud to sponsor this legislation that will stabilize communities, improve affordability and expand opportunity,” said NYS Senator Zellnor Myrie. “I’m grateful to my Assembly partner, Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes, and the coalition that has led the fight for this important housing legislation.”
“I support TOPA because I believe in community ownership. With TOPA, millions of New Yorkers like me would have the opportunity to become tenant-owners, preserving affordable housing in our neighborhoods and building generational wealth in our communities,” said Jared Young, a tenant leader at 438-440 West 45th Street Tenants’ Association, apartment buildings formerly owned by Daniel Ohebshalom, a NYC ‘worst landlord’ as declared by the NYC Public Advocate’s Office.
“New York’s housing crisis is an existential threat to the people and communities that make this state great,” said Assemblymember Emily Gallagher. “Giving tenants the opportunity to purchase creates a pathway to stable and reliable housing. For New Yorkers—many of whom have watched their housing costs balloon out of control—this will change lives. TOPA is a critical tool as we seek to make housing permanently affordable and accessible, and we must pass it.”
“New York’s housing crisis demands bold, transformative policies that empower working families. By giving renters the tools to organize and first right to purchase their building, TOPA would create stability for families and neighborhoods, build tenant power, and pave the way for permanently affordable housing. Albany must prioritize passing it this year,” said Assemblymember Claire Valdez.
“Hard-working middle-class and low-income tenants across New York State are being displaced from their homes at alarming rates, as their properties are snatched up by developers who skyrocket rent prices. I’m ardently advocating for and co-sponsoring the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act in the Assembly to empower and protect communities from being forced out of their own neighborhoods, and to take action to solve the housing affordability crisis,” said Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn. “By passing the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, we will give renters a fair chance to invest in their future, stabilize their housing, and build generational wealth – because housing security should be a right, not a privilege.”
“Every New Yorker deserves a home where they can rest, raise their families, and build community with their neighbors. But real estate speculation is raising rents and destabilizing our neighborhoods, impacting millions of tenants,” said Cea Weaver, Director of Housing Justice for All. “The Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act would protect us from the churn of our profit-driven housing market, creating stable, resident-controlled social housing across our state.”
“Comprehensive preservation is the answer to the crisis of distress in New York multifamily buildings. With TOPA, owners get a fair deal while tenants get a pathway to stability, permanent affordability, and community control.” said Arielle Hersh, Director of Policy and New Projects at UHAB. “It’s essential that we pass TOPA with $250 million to keep tenants in their homes and stabilize our neighborhoods and communities.”
“Through our work organizing tenants and incorporating the Bronx CLT, we meet with Bronx residents every day who are eager to be active stewards of their homes and neighborhoods,” said Julie Colon, Lead Housing Organizer at Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC). “TOPA would offer these tenants the rights and resources they need to take ownership and care for their homes long into the future, and would build wealth and stability in our communities.”
“Every year, hundreds of thousands of violations of housing law are issued in New York State while millions of renters are severely rent-burdened,” said Mark Natanawan, Tenant Organizer at Housing Conservation Coordinators. “We need to fix up run-down apartment buildings across the state and tackle the affordability crisis by investing in and supporting community-owned, nonprofit-operated housing. Our state needs to pass the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act and allocate $250 million annually to fund tenant-led building acquisitions.”
“Tenants need as many tools as possible to remain in stable, safe homes that they can afford, in neighborhoods they choose,” said Michelle de la Uz, Executive Director of Fifth Avenue Committee & Neighbors Helping Neighbors. “TOPA is an important tool to accomplish that and also counters speculation in the real estate market. We are deeply grateful for Assemblywoman Mitaynes and State Senator Myrie for their leadership on TOPA and committed to continuing to work with Brooklyn tenants to reach their goals.”
“Last year, the East New York CLT purchased its first property, which will become a newly renovated, collectively owned co-op—after years of tenant struggle against a neglectful landlord,” said Brianna Soleyn, a board member of the East New York Community Land Trust. “New York must pass TOPA and create a $250 million fund in the budget so groups like ours can do this across the state, empowering New Yorkers to create safe, affordable and community controlled housing.”
“Cooper Square Committee fully supports TOPA, and calls on New York to pass it this year’s budget,” said Illapa Sairitupac, a Housing Organizer at Cooper Square Committee. “Our organization frequently works with tenants whose lives are upended when their building is sold to a neglectful corporate landlord. TOPA wil give tenants the ability to facilitate needed improvements and preserve the affordability of their buildings in perpetuity. TOPA has proven successful in places like Washington, D.C., and it’s high time New York brought it here.”
“Tenants need a way to break out of the cycle of flipping and speculation that is contributing to both rising rents and rising evictions,” said Oksana Mironova, Housing Policy Analyst at the Community Service Society of New York. “When asked about TOPA in our 2023 Unheard Third survey, New Yorkers resoundingly approved. As we wrote in our report, Control Our Homes, Control Our Destinies, 82 percent of respondents support the proposal, including majorities across party, racial, gender and geographic lines. Now is the time for the state to pass and fund TOPA.”
“Right here in Queens, our community land trust is proving it’s possible to take land off the speculative market and develop deeply affordable homes and community spaces, all while putting people over profit,” said Alexis Foote, board member and founder of the ReAL Edgemere Community Land Trust in the Rockaways. “We see TOPA as a crucial step toward reparations for Black communities harmed by decades of redlining and disinvestment. Let’s pass TOPA to give all New York State’s tenants and CLTs the tools they need to bring land into community control.”