FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 17, 2025
CONTACT: Elise Goldin, New Economy Project, elise@neweconomynyc.org
January 17, 2025 – The New York City Community Land Initiative issued the following statement in response to Governor Hochul’s 2025 State of the State Address:
We cannot simply build our way out of New York’s housing crisis. In order to meet the needs of low income and unhoused New Yorkers we need robust investment in deeply and permanently affordable housing and bold policy change to address root causes of our affordability crisis – including unchecked real estate speculation.
In her address, the Governor acknowledged the harm that private equity speculation in real estate inflicts on our communities, pledging to ban firms from bidding on one- and two-family homes during their first 75 days on the market.
This approach, however, still leaves the millions of New Yorkers living in rental buildings at the mercy of those same vultures. New York State must go further to curb speculation by passing the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), which would give tenant associations and qualified nonprofits a first opportunity to buy multifamily buildings when landlords sell. TOPA is modeled on similar policies that have created and preserved thousands of affordable homes in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and other jurisdictions. Paired with acquisition funding and technical assistance, TOPA creates pathways to truly affordable housing and resident control.
The Senate Housing Committee approved TOPA last session, and the bill is broadly supported by thousands of tenants and community groups – including community land trusts that are equipped to partner with residents to stabilize and ensure lasting affordability of their homes.
It’s time to bring TOPA to New York. The legislature must pass – and the Governor must sign – TOPA this year and commit $250 million per year to fund acquisitions and technical assistance.
nyccli.org 