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Wired: AI Is Taking Over the Most Cursed Job in the World
She introduced herself as Eve, but Ben knew right away that the voice on the other end of the line was a bot. Eve knew his name. She also knew how much money he’d owed a former landlord ($266). She didn’t seem to know that he’d settled with a collection agency five months prior. Eve…
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COPA Reaches Majority Support in City Council Just One Week After Reintroduction
On Thursday, the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA) secured majority support in the New York City Council only one week after its reintroduction, reaching 26 sponsors—enough support to pass the legislation.
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Council Member Nurse, Tenants, and Community Groups Announce Reintroduction of COPA with Rally at City Hall
Tenants, affordable housing organizations, and elected officials gathered at City Hall on Thursday with NYC Council Member Sandy Nurse to announce the reintroduction of the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA), landmark legislation aimed at combating displacement, preserving affordable housing, and expanding community ownership amid New York City’s deepening housing crisis.
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Spring into Solidarity!
In our latest newsletter, we share a new national profile of our work advancing community ownership; highlights from the annual “Worst Banks Awards;” our new Fintech Paycheck Extraction Clock; and a major housing victory for low-income tenants and homeowners.
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New Economy Project Advances Community Ownership in New York
New Economy Project was featured in the latest case study in the Center for Community Investment’s Ecosystem Stewardship: Building the Infrastructure for Shared Ownership series.
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Shelterforce: How Public Banks Can Meet Public Needs
What could your community do if your city or state owned its own bank? In 2020, the nonprofit organization Action Center on Race & the Economy published a study showing that state and local governments pay $160 billion in annual interest on the money they borrow.
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Federal Judge Deals Major Blow to Predatory Fintech, Says “Earned Wage Access” Advances Are Payday Loans
Last week, a second federal court in New York joined a growing number of courts rejecting the fintech industry’s tired claim that so-called “earned wage access” (EWA) cash advances aren’t loans. In Freeman v. Bridge It, active-duty service members sued EWA company “Brigit” for making high-cost loans in violation of the federal Truth In Lending…
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$650 Million and Counting: New Online Tool Tracks Massive Fee Drain from New Yorkers’ Paychecks by Illegal Cash Advance Apps
New Economy Project today released a new interactive tool revealing the massive and growing stream of fees that so-called “earned wage access” (EWA) apps are extracting from New Yorkers’ paychecks—exacerbating the state’s affordability crisis and deepening racial wealth inequality.
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Online Payday Lenders Look to Skirt New York Restrictions
Assemblymember Steven Raga, a Queens Democrat, and Katy Lasell, of the New Economy Project, make the case for rewriting New York’s consumer protection laws to regulate the latest evolution of payday lenders that are skirting existing restrictions on loans.
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55+ Groups Urge Albany to Boost Funding for CLTs and Community-Controlled Housing in State Budget
On Monday, 55 community groups and advocacy organizations from across New York State delivered a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, and key state legislators urging $7.5 million in the FY 2027 budget for two critical programs that support community-controlled housing, including community land trusts (CLTs).
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Gothamist: Mamdani Halts NYC’s ‘Predatory’ Private Tax Lien Sale Process
Mayor Zohran Mamdani will halt the city’s controversial tax lien sale and potentially scrap it altogether over concerns that the process exposes homeowners to “predatory debt collectors” and foreclosure, City Hall said Tuesday.
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The Village View: Activists Decry Wall Street, Call for NYC Public Bank
The acoustics weren’t great but the message was crystal clear. Big banks are systematically screwing ordinary New Yorkers by using taxpayer money to underwrite schemes that promote usury, risk destabilizing financial markets, support ICE, endanger tenants, and deprive regular New Yorkers of services and resources.