This summer, New Economy Project has been on the move—taking on predatory lenders, pushing for transformative change in our housing system, and much more. Check out our latest round-up for exciting updates and ways to take action!

Major CLT Breakthroughs

In June, we teamed up with our coalition partners in the NYC Community Land Initiative to host a powerful Social Housing Festival and Speak-Out, calling on Speaker Adams and the City Council to pass the Community Land Act—a package of bills to bring land and housing into permanently affordable, democratic community control. Don’t miss the reels!

We then marched to City Hall for the City Council’s historic social housing hearing, where we testified in support of the bills. Read all about it in City Limits, and check out the op-ed we co-authored with coalition partners in the South Bronx and East New York.

In recent months, our organizing has delivered major breakthroughs:

• We secured $1.5 million in renewed City Council funding for the CLT Initiative, sustaining CLT organizing and technical assistance citywide.
• We won a first-ever New York State CLT Support Program dedicating an additional $1.5 million to New York City CLT operations.
• Support for the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA) is growing! The Livable Future youth campaign joined the fight for COPA. And we pushed the Adams administration off its hardline opposition to COPA—a major step forward for the campaign.

Take Action! Urge your City Council Member to pass COPA now!

Viral Video Exposes Big Tech Debt Traps

Last month, New Economy Project was featured in a powerful short documentary by More Perfect Union exposing how payday loan apps trap low-wage workers in cycles of predatory debt. The video has already been viewed more than 800,000 times on YouTube, amplifying our call to stop predatory fintech in its tracks. Watch the video here—and stay tuned until the end for our bold solutions.

This surge in attention comes as our advocacy is driving major action:

• In May, the NYS Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the End Loan Sharking Act (S1726/A4918), a bill we co-drafted to shut the door on Big Tech and other predatory lenders trying to evade New York’s strong usury laws.
• Recently, we also made headlines blasting Wall Street’s $200 million securitization deal with DailyPay—a scheme that exploits low-wage workers and fuels predatory lending.
• In April, NYS Attorney General Letitia James sued DailyPay and MoneyLion for targeting working New Yorkers with illegal payday loans charging upwards of 750% APR. 

Take Action! Urge your legislators to pass the End Loan Sharking Act!

Public Banks for Racial Equity

In May, we gathered advocates from across the country in Washington, D.C., to mark the release of Public Banks for Racial Equity: Democratizing Finance to Build Community Wealth, a joint report from New Economy Project and Dēmos. At the convening, organizers shared highlights and lessons learned from public bank campaigns gaining traction from coast to coast.

Missed it? Read our blog post for key takeaways on developing successful campaigns, building accountable institutions, and scaling the impact of public banks.

Exposing Debt Collection Abuse

New York Focus published two major investigative reports, sparked by New Economy Project’s legal advocacy and prominently featuring our staff attorney, Elena Rodriguez.

The reports exposed widespread “sewer service”—when debt collectors falsely claim they’ve served people with court papers, then obtain default judgments to seize wages or freeze bank accounts, all without people ever knowing they were sued.

Elena breaks it all down in a sharp, eye-opening reel—check it out!

Big Thanks to our Interns

This summer, we were thrilled to work with three outstanding interns: legal interns Huailing and Marc, and Emilia, our Racial Justice and Neighborhood Equity Fellow. They staffed the NYC Financial Justice Hotline, created educational materials on payday loan apps, tabled across multiple boroughs, produced critical campaign research, and more. We’re deeply grateful for their hard work and dedication!

Other Highlights

The New York Community Trust recently featured our work in its magazine story, “Building an Economy That Works for All New Yorkers.” As our executive director Deyanira Del Río put it:

“We are laser-focused on building a just financial system and economy for all New Yorkers. But we can’t build a new economy when the current one is fueling rampant financial exploitation—pushing people deeper into debt, destabilizing communities, and exacerbating racial and economic inequality.”

We joined the Crown Heights Tenant Union, UHAB, East New York CLT, and others to highlight successful campaigns through which tenants are taking control of their buildings.

The National Public Housing Museum in Chicago launched an exhibit featuring Trustville, a community land trust board game we co-designed with Picture the Homeless, Hester Street, and other NYCCLI allies.