FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 18, 2025
Will Spisak, Senior Policy Strategist at New Economy Project, will@neweconomynyc.org
Patricia Santana, Communications Director for Council Member Sandy Nurse, PSantana@council.nyc.gov
New York, NY — Amid a deepening housing crisis, the New York City Council today passed the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (Intro 902-B), or COPA—landmark legislation that will preserve and expand deeply affordable housing across the city and protect tenants from displacement. The bill, championed by Council Member Sandy Nurse and a coalition of over 200+ community groups, tenant associations, developers and housing experts, advanced through the Council with overwhelming support.
COPA gives mission-driven preservation buyers, including Community Land Trusts (CLTs), a first opportunity to make competitive offers on certain multifamily buildings when owners choose to sell. By giving these groups a fair chance to compete in a market dominated by speculative investors, COPA helps ensure that at-risk buildings can be acquired by organizations committed to long-term, deeply and permanently affordable housing and community control.
The legislative victory follows a five-year campaign led by the NYC Community Land Initiative (NYCCLI)—a citywide coalition of CLTs coordinated by New Economy Project—to expand pathways for CLTs and other nonprofits to stabilize and protect affordable housing. Intro 902-B intentionally grants HPD discretion so that CLTs and other community based, mission-driven nonprofits have a clear and viable pathway to qualify as Qualified Entities under this law.
New York City’s network of more than 20 CLTs is thriving and will play a vital role in COPA’s effective implementation. These democratically run, community-based nonprofits remove land and housing from the speculative market and ensure homes remain deeply and permanently affordable. This City Council has invested in the growth of CLTs, and now, through COPA, CLTs will have a powerful new tool to acquire and preserve permanently affordable, community-controlled housing.
COPA is a strategic, proven tool to preserve affordable housing in Black and brown communities. San Francisco’s COPA, enacted in 2019, has already preserved over 400 homes and kept more than 1,000 residents housed—demonstrating that this model succeeds in fast-moving, high-cost markets like New York.
New York City’s COPA targets a strategic subset of buildings at greatest risk of being flipped and losing affordability. COPA will apply only to multifamily buildings that are in a housing enforcement program for one year, have an average of one hazardous or immediately hazardous violations per unit, or have affordability restrictions that are expiring within two years of the point of sale. The law exempts four and five unit owner-occupied buildings and well-maintained buildings. One, two, and three-family homes are excluded.
The legislation also creates clear, predictable timelines that make preservation purchases possible and bring stability to a volatile part of the housing market under extreme speculative pressure. A detailed breakdown can be found on this New Economy Project factsheet.
The legislation received broad and diverse support—from more than 200 community organizations, 50 affordable housing developers and community development corporations, and dozens of State elected officials. Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, Comptroller Brad Lander, and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams were also among those urging its passage.
QUOTES
“Today’s passage of the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act is a transformative victory for housing justice—won through years of organizing by community land trusts, tenants, and groups across the five boroughs. COPA will give CLTs and other mission-driven organizations a real opportunity to take land and housing off the speculative market and bring them into permanently affordable community control,” said Deyanira Del Rio, Executive Director of New Economy Project, which coordinates the NYC Community Land Initiative. “We thank Council Member Sandy Nurse for championing COPA, and we commend Speaker Adams and the NYC Council for passing this urgently needed legislation.”
“Corporate interests and big real estate tried their hardest to block the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act with a misinformation and fear-mongering campaign, and they failed,” said Council Member Sandy Nurse, the bill’s lead sponsor. “Today marks the beginning of a new social housing era in New York City, one where working New Yorkers advance tools to stop the venture capitalists who are driving up rents and pushing families out of their neighborhoods. COPA levels the playing field and makes it possible to preserve and create thousands of permanently affordable homes across our city.”
“We are thrilled that the NYC Council has passed COPA. We know from first hand experience how transformative this legislation will be,” said Brianna Soleyn, a board member of the East New York Community Land Trust. “The ENY CLT put in the work to organize residents and donors to directly purchase our first building, which was neglected by its former owner. Through COPA, the city can support acquisitions like these, of over-leveraged rent stabilized housing stock, to ensure that these buildings are kept affordable and under tenant control. These acquisitions are proven to work and directly improve New Yorkers’ lives.”
“Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA) will preserve and expand permanently affordable homes that New Yorkers deserve,” said NYC Council Member Pierina Sanchez, Chair of the Committee on Housing and Buildings. “Int. 902, gives vetted, mission-driven buyers a first opportunity to purchase a very narrow set of at-risk multifamily buildings when an owner chooses to sell—helping preserve affordable housing and prevent displacement in buildings most in need of stabilization. Congratulations to Council Member Nurse and the advocates who worked on meaningful legislation that delivers dignified homes across the city.”
“Today’s passage of COPA is a huge victory for the Bronx,” said Sandra Lobo, Executive Director of the Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition. “Across the Bronx, Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition and the Bronx Community Land Trust are working together to demonstrate what community driven development can look like—permanently affordable housing, rooted in local leadership and long-term stewardship. COPA will level the playing field for nonprofits and community land trusts to support and expand this work. We commend the City Council for helping New Yorkers remain in the neighborhoods they’ve helped build.”
“I’m proud to support the passage of COPA because today, we are choosing tenants over the profits of real estate,” said Council Member Chi Ossé. “Housing should be permanently affordable and controlled by the community. That is why big real estate was fighting its hardest against our coalition. COPA breaks the cycle of speculation and flipping that displaces our neighbors. With today’s vote, we are making it clear that New York City is a city of tenants. At every turn, we must always choose people over profit.”
“COPA will be a game-changer for neighborhoods in the South Bronx that face severe displacement pressures, such as Mott Haven,” said Matthew Shore, Director of Planning & Development at South Bronx Unite. “Mott Haven ranks amongst the highest in the city for rent burden, evictions, and housing code violations. At the same time, new housing units produced at or above 80% AMI in our community district were double that of units at or below 80% AMI. We know that CLTs and nonprofit developers have a better track record of building and preserving affordable housing development than for-profit developers. We’re overjoyed that we now have COPA to preserve our working-class communities and address our city’s affordability crisis.”
“In too many buildings across my district, ownership has shifted to large corporate entities that treat homes as assets, and harm the people who live in them,” said Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez. “Tenants’ homes are left in cycles of neglect while conditions deteriorate. COPA changes that landscape by creating a real pathway to stabilize ailing buildings—giving tenants and mission-driven nonprofits, including the strong community-based organizations already doing this work, the chance to step in before conditions collapse further.”
“A huge congratulations to the community land trust movement and to the City Council for passing COPA,” said Valerio Orselli, Project Director of This Land Is Ours CLT. “Last year, this Land Is Ours CLT participated in a successful bid to develop 500 affordable homes on the site of a shuttered Catholic church. Among other projects, we are currently working with the tenants of 438-440 West 45th Street and 331 East 14th Street and a Preservation Purchaser to acquire homes previously-owned by slumlord Ohebshalom. COPA will make challenging acquisition processes like these far more efficient.”
“New York City is facing an undeniable housing crisis—one driven by a severe lack of affordability and the ongoing displacement of longtime Black and brown New Yorkers who have called this city home for generations,” said Council Member Crystal Hudson. “Passing COPA is a critical step toward creating deeply and permanently affordable housing that low- and moderate-income New Yorkers can truly afford. At a time when speculative investment too often puts profit over people, COPA shifts power back to communities and preservation-minded buyers committed to long-term affordability. I’m grateful to Council Member Nurse for her leadership on this issue and proud to stand alongside my colleagues in protecting New York families from housing insecurity.”
“I am deeply moved by the passage of COPA. Having lived in the same apartment in Hell’s Kitchen for more than forty years and having witnessed firsthand the devastating effects the action and inaction of a predatory landlord has had on my fellow tenants and neighbors, I believe it is high time that the city allow the community to decide for itself what is in its own best interest,” said Nicholas Latimer, Tenants’ Association leader at 438/440 W. 45th Street, apartment buildings formerly owned by Daniel Ohebshalom, a NYC ‘worst landlord’ as declared by the NYC Public Advocate’s Office. “It does not take an army of outside developers to shape the future of our shared spaces. It takes a village. And the village is ready, willing, and more than able to do the necessary work.”
“A lack of affordable housing is the number one issue for New Yorkers,” said Council Member Shahana Hanif. “Trusted community organizations like the Fifth Avenue Committee are ready to preserve and create deeply affordable homes, yet too often they’re shut out while profit-driven developers move in. COPA ensures these organizations have a fair chance to protect affordable housing and prioritize people over profit.”
“COPA’s passage is a true win for Queens,” said Jenny Dubnau, Co-Chair of the Western Queens CLT. “COPA will help Western Queens CLT transform existing housing in Queens so it’s permanently affordable and tenant-controlled. Next up, we must pass another key component of the Community Land Act (CLA) package: Public Land for Public Good Act, which would require NYC to prioritize CLTs and nonprofit developers when disposing of City-owned land. The work is just beginning!”
“COPA gives tenants and mission-driven nonprofits the first opportunity to buy certain multifamily buildings when they go up for sale, helping preserve affordability and prevent displacement. With the passage of COPA in City Council, we stand with tenants fighting to stay in their communities,” said Council Member Harvey Epstein.
“Cooper Square Committee is so proud of New York City for passing COPA. We want to build off our rich legacy of creating community land trusts,” 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. COPA will give tenants the ability to facilitate needed improvements and preserve the affordability of their buildings in perpetuity. Such policies have already proven successful in places like San Francisco, and we’re confident New York will use COPA to great effect, to protect tenants from displacement and stabilize our housing stock.”
“We did it – we passed COPA! We’re giving tenants and CLTs the tools they need to bring land into community control,” said Alexis Foote, founder of the ReAL Edgemere Community Land Trust in the Rockaways. “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. We see COPA as a crucial step toward reparations for Black communities harmed by decades of redlining and disinvestment. Today is a victory for racial justice.”
“TakeRoot is grateful for the leadership of our Council allies in passing COPA. With this bill, the Council has leveled the playing field for tenants and the community-based organizations when properties hit the market. The legislation strikes a balance between tenant power and property rights, pointing to a City that generations of working-class New Yorkers will be able to call home,” said Paula Z. Segal, Senior Staff Attorney in the TakeRoot Justice Equitable Neighborhoods unit. “In addition, TakeRoot is grateful for the leadership of our Council allies for working to abolish and replace Guiliani’s lien sale with a municipal debt collection system that is accountable to our neighborhoods and sensitive to the needs of both tenants and homeowners.”
“Today is a day for celebration. COPA will let residents like us stay in our homes and keep our neighborhoods from becoming playgrounds for the wealthy,” said John Leyva, a tenant leader at 63 Tiffany Place. “The tenants in this city are at a disadvantage, fighting against millionaires, billionaires, and increasingly, private equity. It’s a David vs. Goliath fight. With the passage of COPA in the City Council, we are finally leveling the playing field.”
“We thank the City Council for passing this legislation and giving communities a fighting chance to stay rooted,” said Michelle de la Uz, Executive Director of the Fifth Avenue Committee. “The Community Opportunity to Purchase Act is a vital tool to combat displacement and preserve affordability in our neighborhoods. For decades, the Fifth Avenue Committee has worked to ensure that low- and moderate-income New Yorkers can remain in the communities they helped build. COPA empowers mission-driven nonprofits like ours to compete with speculative buyers and ensure housing remains affordable for community residents for generations to come.”
“We are elated to hear the NYC Council passed COPA today,” said Yvonne Stennett, Executive Director of Community League of the Heights (CLOTH). “COPA will help curb speculation and the ill-desired effect of displacement that often accompanies it—particularly in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods. Working in tandem with funding programs such as the HPD Neighborhood Pillars Program, it will stabilize communities by ensuring that properties are rehabilitated and made affordable, with a focus on long term neighborhood development rather than the short-term profit motive that generally accompanies private developments.”
“We commend the NYC Council for passing COPA, a critical bill that we staunchly support,” said Benjamin Warnke, principal of Alembic Community Development. “COPA gives responsible developers and community organizations a new tool to stabilize and preserve truly affordable housing. It will foster partnerships between qualified, mission-driven nonprofits and for-profit developers to efficiently exercise COPA rights. Alembic and CLOTH have participated in joint ventures for years to complete new construction and housing preservation projects in Washington Heights, Hamilton Heights, and Inwood. Our experience points to how these partnerships can fuel COPA’s success, and we are ready to ensure COPA’s effective implementation from day one.”
“We’re elated by the passage of one of our key Livable Future pillars – the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act,” said Justin Liriano, a member leader at The Youth Alliance for Housing. “The Youth Alliance for Housing is made of young people from New York, and we are fighting to ensure we can grow old in the communities we grew up in. We refuse to let our city turn into a glass playground for the rich. COPA will be critical in preventing the displacement of long standing residents and preserving affordable housing in NYC.”
“We thank the City Council for passing COPA,” said Will Depoo, Senior Campaign Organizer at the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development. “As we continue to face a housing and homelessness crisis, we must build and preserve affordable housing for those who need it most. COPA provides our communities with a key tool to fight speculation, move distressed buildings into the hands of responsible community stewards, and ensure that public resources go where they’re most needed.”