Community Opportunity to Purchase Act

By Jack Lourie

LOCALLY-OWNED BUILDINGS can be kept in the neighborhood’s hands with COPA. Photo by Jack Lourie.

Apparently there used to be a time in New York when apartments weren’t run through private equity. Back in the 1960s, community activists in Harlem and across the city had to take control of their building’s utilities as landlords mass-abandoned apartments that were no longer seeing returns. This practice, taken up by those living in the apartments, was known as homesteading. Because the tenants saw the apartments as homes rather than assets, they wanted to take care of them. A home isn’t a number, it’s where you might have a playdate, learn to cook, or read your first book.

If I fell asleep in the 1960s and woke up in 2026, I would be shocked to see how many of the buildings that were once devoid of capital were now opportunities for worker exploitation. It would seem like the person who was supposed to take care of my home was either trying to push me out through abandonment or price gouging. Harlem, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and countless other neighborhoods that were once the leaders of the homesteading movement are now being siphoned out through capitalistic forces now wanting the assets they once abandoned. Can’t a home just be a home?

This brings us to the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA), which might serve as a counterbalance to the corporate control of our neighborhoods. It provides community organizations and certain nonprofits the ability to buy apartment buildings of three or more units prior to a murky LLC having that same access. Here is how it works (NYC Community Land Initiative):

• Landlords notify NYC Department of Housing and Preservation that they plan to sell their apartment building.
• Qualified nonprofits must notify the owner that they have an intent to purchase within 60 days and 120 days to make an offer.
• If the nonprofit and landlord do not come to an agreement, then the property goes to the market.These nonprofits must have shown a demonstrated commitment to affordable housing in the neighborhoods they serve. One such list of nonprofits that would be eligible would be the Qualified Preservation Buyers List (NYC Housing Preservation and Development). Land trusts are also eligible.

Conversations around housing are intentionally designed to be confusing so that real estate developers can continue to be profitable. And increasing housing stock typically equates to more apartments for rich out-of-towners who will be willing to pay exuberant prices — because they ultimately can afford it. This allows opportunistic surrounding landlords in the area to raise rents because their properties are appreciating in value. Put simply, the real estate industry is against this bill. That should tell you what you need to know in whether supporting it is a good idea.

Village Preservation has run a campaign to pressure NY City Council Speaker Julie Menin to bring the bill to the floor again. Andrew Berman, Village Preservation’s executive director stated, “COPA would help ensure older buildings in our neighborhood and throughout New York City don’t fall into the hands of predatory investors, and would give tenant nonprofits, and land trusts a fair shot at purchasing them. Given how quickly older affordable housing and buildings in our neighborhoods are disappearing, there is no good reason not to adopt this simple, common-sense measure that will help tip the scales ever so slightly more in the favor of average New Yorkers.” More information on Village Preservation’s position can be found on their website (Village Preservation).

The bill was brought to the floor on December 18, with 31 council members voting yay, 10 voting nay, and seven abstaining. Three council members were not present. One of the abstention votes was Menin. The law was vetoed by the Adams’ administration on December 31. Because this bill was vetoed on December 31, former Speaker Adrienne Adams couldn’t override him. And now as speaker, Menin had to decide whether to give the bill another chance in January.

By the time that you are reading this article, Menin will have decided whether to vote on COPA again. When a mayor vetoes a bill, the speaker can then reintroduce it, and the council has 30 days to supersede the mayor. They would need a two-thirds majority to override the mayor. But this should serve as a test to what kind of leader Menin will be. She has motioned that she may be, at points, a counterweight to Mamdani’s progressive policies. If this bill is not reintroduced, this may indicate a greater sympathy towards the real estate industry.