Featured stories
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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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Bringing Land and Housing into Community Hands
We are thrilled to announce the release of “Bringing Land and Housing into Community Hands,” a beautiful fold-out poster showcasing New York City’s growing community land trust (CLT) movement. Brimming with hand-drawn illustrations of actual CLT organizers and projects from across the five boroughs, the poster explains how CLTs work and how community members can…
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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.
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AMNY: Mamdani Co-Signs Comeback of Nonprofit Property COPA Bill Vetoed by Adams
A hotly debated housing bill that would give nonprofits first dibs on property purchases — vetoed by former Mayor Eric Adams hours before he left office — is likely to get a new chance to pass under the Mamdani administration. Its sponsor is already anticipating lawsuits attempting to stop it.