FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 27, 2026
CONTACT: Will Spisak, New Economy Project, will@neweconomyproject.org
Today, the NYC Community Land Initiative coalition and more than 200 community and affordable housing groups issued the following statement urging the NYC Council to enact the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act:
Communities across New York City are demanding that the City Council override Eric Adams’ veto and enact the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA), which passed last year with overwhelming support. The Council must reject the real estate lobby’s desperate, last-minute efforts to derail the bill through misrepresentation and bogus legal claims—and move this critical affordability measure forward.
COPA was adopted after more than five years of public discussion and technical development with legal experts, affordable housing developers, tenant organizations, policy specialists, and the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. The bill reflects careful deliberation, broad stakeholder input, and a clear legislative mandate.
COPA is on strong legal footing, and claims to the contrary are part of a coordinated effort to sow confusion and block communities from disrupting a cycle of speculation that enriches real estate interests while displacing working-class New Yorkers and New Yorkers of color. The City Council must override Eric Adams’ veto and enact COPA without delay.
nyccli.org 