In our latest newsletter: COPA is back! Catch up on the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, our work launching a national coalition to fight Big Tech payday lenders, a “Solidarity Stroll” with Deputy Mayor Julie Su and other members of the Mamdani Administration, and much more.
Read on for highlights, and join us tonight, July 21, for a special Community Land Trust Movie Night!
The movement to pass COPA continues in full force. On May 14, we stood with coalition partners and NYC Council Member Sandy Nurse to announce COPA’s reintroduction in the City Council. Backed by 200+ organizations, Mayor Mamdani, and a majority of Council Members, COPA is continuing to gather steam — look out for a key Council hearing this fall.
Once enacted, COPA will give community land trusts (CLTs) and other qualified organizations a first chance to purchase and stabilize at-risk multifamily buildings — combating displacement and bringing housing into permanently affordable community control.
Also in May, we attended the launch of Mayor Mamdani’s official housing plan — which places community ownership front and center, naming COPA, community land trusts, and the SAFER Homes Act as key priorities.
Learn More & Take Action!
- Send an email urging your Council Member to pass COPA this year.
- Watch and share our hit “COPA Is Back” Instagram reel.
- Check out coverage of COPA’s reintroduction, including a City Limits deep dive into how COPA will expand community ownership, and a Village View feature spotlighting the broad-based coalition behind the bill.
We were thrilled to host Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su for an inspiring roundtable and “Solidarity Stroll” through the Lower East Side, alongside partners in NYC’s powerful and growing solidarity economy movement.
The event showcased pathbreaking institutions — like the Cooper Square Community Land Trust, Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union, and 4th Street Food Co-op — that are bringing land, housing, finance, and more into shared community ownership. We also heard from Cooperative Home Care Associates, the largest worker cooperative in the country, 1199SEIU, and dozens of other labor, co-op, and CLT leaders.
We wrapped up our tour at the 6th & B Community Garden, where we discussed how to take this movement to the next level with the creation of an Office of Cooperative Economics and a NYC Public Bank.
Check out photos from the event and a map (pictured) of our tour route. To learn how public banking would support a thriving solidarity economy across NYC, watch our animated reel, “This is a Dollar.”
This spring, we successfully beat back a dangerous bill in Albany that would have given a free pass to Big Tech payday lenders that violate our laws and exploit New Yorkers.
We then took the fight national — bringing together two dozen community, labor, and faith-based groups and community credit unions from 21 states where payday lending is banned, to launch the Stop Taking Our Pay (STOP) Coalition. The coalition is working to block the expansion of the so-called “earned wage access” (EWA) industry, which has extracted billions of dollars in predatory fees from workers’ paychecks. Check out coverage of the coalition launch in American Banker and Public News Service.
The coalition launched just as members of Congress were advancing another industry bill — ironically named the “Earned Wage Access Consumer Protection Act” — to unleash predatory lending across the nation. The coalition’s advocacy has already succeeded in pressuring key members of Congress to drop off the bill, which would strip states like New York of their ability to crack down on EWA debt traps.
Congratulations to the East New York Community Land Trust on acquiring a vacant warehouse that it will transform into the East Brooklyn Liberation Center — a new hub for organizing and economic democracy.
We were proud to support this exciting project through our New Economy Loan Fund, which helped finance the acquisition. Read more in Next City and Brownstoner.
To date, the New Economy Loan Fund has made more than $2.6 million in flexible, low-cost loans to catalyze community ownership across NYC. We are actively working to grow the fund, which supports CLTs, worker and food co-ops, community solar, and other neighborhood-led initiatives. Contact us to learn more and get involved!
A big congratulations to the Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union, which recently celebrated forty years of building community wealth and advancing economic justice on the Lower East Side, East Harlem, the South Bronx, and Staten Island’s North Shore.
Bravo to Raquel Villagra on her recent promotion to Senior Staff Attorney after six years of zealous advocacy at New Economy Project.
A big shout-out to our Staff Attorney Jamilah McMillan on her admission to the New York State Bar!
Our State Campaigns Coordinator Katy Lasell joined The People’s Parade at the Westchester Social Forum, where she spoke about our campaigns to end predatory lending and pass the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act.
We joined representatives from Mondragon, the world’s largest federation of worker cooperatives, at CUNY Law and co-facilitated a breakout session on what’s next for New York City’s growing cooperative economy.
The NYS Community Equity Agenda traveled to Albany to urge lawmakers to pass the Stop Taking Our Pay (STOP) Act, bold state legislation to crack down on Big Tech-backed payday loans.
Our Legal Director Susan Shin led a financial justice workshop for the NYC Department of Education’s Office of Multilingual Learners.
Our Executive Director Deyanira Del Rio spoke about our loan fund and coalition organizing, at a community ownership forum hosted by Change Capital Fund at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Deyanira and Associate Director Andy Morrison traveled to Québec for a learning tour of the region’s renowned social and solidarity economy, and presented on our work advancing economic justice in NYC. Many thanks to our hosts from the Chantier de l’économie social and Multitudes for the invitation!
Join us tonight, Tuesday, July 21, at 6:00 p.m. for a summer movie night and fundraiser in support of New York City’s community land trust movement! We’ll screen Rabble Rousers, a powerful documentary about the history of Cooper Square CLT and the ongoing fight for land and housing justice in NYC, followed by a panel with CLT organizers and residents.
Only a few tickets remain! Get yours here. All proceeds will support campaigns led by the NYC Community Land Initiative.
- Wired, “AI Is Taking Over the Most Cursed Job in the World” – May 26, 2026
- Brownstoner, “Community Land Trust Plans ‘Liberation Center’ East New York Warehouse” – May 27, 2026
- Next City, “A South Bronx Health Center Will Rise Again, Thanks to Local Organizers” – June 1, 2026
- Next City, “A Community Land Trust is Purchasing Commercial Property in NYC for the First Time” – June 9, 2026
- Brick Underground, “Community Opportunity to Purchase Act Has a Good Chance of Passing Under Mamdani” – June 22, 2026
- City Limits, “As COPA Makes a Comeback, What Does it Mean for Land to be Communally Owned?” – June 25, 2026
- Public News Service, “NY, US Consumer Coalition Works to Reign in Payday Lenders” – July 7, 2026
- American Banker, “Consumer groups team up to battle EWA lobby” – July 13, 2026