On Thursday, the City Council passed a bill that will allow housing nonprofits to have first dibs on the sales of large apartment buildings.
The Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, or COPA, could pave the way to create a significant amount of affordable housing as community housing groups receive a head start on making offers to purchase buildings in severe disrepair or arrears. The current version of the law targets around 2,100 buildings.
The City Council passed a version of COPA late last year, but Mayor Eric Adams vetoed it on his very last day in City Hall, saying that that bill would "worsen our affordable housing crisis with new, unfunded mandates and red tape." When the new City Council convened in January, Speaker Julie Menin declined to seek an override of the veto.
This time around, Mayor Zohran Mamdani says he plans to sign the bill.