Mamdani signs COPA into law, giving nonprofits a first shot at buying NYC's most distressed apartment buildings

Update, Nov. 10: Mamdani signs COPA into law

Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (Intro. 905-A) into law on Tuesday, Nov. 10, ending a six-year push by sponsor Council Member Sandy Nurse, the mayor's office said in a release (republished by Mirage News). Former Mayor Eric Adams vetoed an earlier version in December 2025.

"Our homes should be places of stability, not vehicles for speculation," Mamdani said. Nurse called it "a new tool" to preserve affordable housing.

• The timeline, per City Hall: qualified groups get a 145-day window to make an offer on and buy a covered building before it hits the open market, plus one year in which they can match another buyer's offer. Within that window, buyers have 20 days to file a statement of interest and 70 days to make a first offer, Patch reported.
• Who can buy: HPD will keep a list of "qualified entities": vetted nonprofits, tenant groups and community land trusts that can show the money and experience to buy and run buildings.
• Which buildings: multifamily buildings with four or more units in significant disrepair, and buildings with HPD affordability agreements.
• What happens now: HPD begins implementation, including setting up the qualified-entities list and a way to notify groups when covered buildings go up for sale, the mayor's office said. It has not given a start date.

Boris Santos of the East New York Community Land Trust pointed to the trust's 2024 purchase of 248 Arlington Ave., a 20-unit rent-stabilized building it plans to turn into a tenant-owned co-op, as the kind of deal COPA should make easier, Patch reported. Small Property Owners of New York still opposes the law; board president Ann Korchak told Patch it is "a destructive housing policy for renters, owners, and affordable housing." COPA does not by itself create new affordable apartments, and its impact will depend on whether nonprofits can line up financing, Patch noted. The signing was also covered by BK Reader.

Update, Oct. 22: COPA passes, 38-9

The City Council on Thursday passed the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, Intro. 905-A, by a vote of 38 to 9 with two abstentions, amNewYork reported. The bill now goes to Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has pledged to sign it, ending a six-year fight that spanned three administrations. "After six years, multiple Mayors, and a veto, we finally passed COPA," sponsor Sandy Nurse said in the Council's statement.

• Narrower reach: Speaker Julie Menin said the universe of covered properties was cut to about 2,100 buildings from roughly 10,000, after the city's Law Department raised legal concerns about the version Adams vetoed, amNY reported.
• Exclusions: buildings covered only by 421-a tax-break affordability rules are excluded, HPD-agreement buildings are limited to 100 apartments or fewer, and owner-occupied buildings with five or fewer units are exempt.
• More room for owners: unlike the vetoed bill, owners can list the building, get appraisals and negotiate with other buyers while nonprofits weigh an offer, though they cannot close a sale. If no nonprofit expresses interest in 20 days, the owner can proceed.
• Enforcement: owners can seek a financial hardship exemption, and those who skip the required notices face penalties of up to 15% of the sale price, amNY reported. HPD must report on the program periodically, the Council said.

Landlord groups were not won over. "We're still missing the forest for the trees," said Kenny Burgos, CEO of the New York Apartment Association, while Small Property Owners of New York board president Ann Korchak said COPA will force small owners to sell "for pennies on the dollar," according to amNY. The law does not force anyone to sell; it applies only when an owner chooses to.

Before the vote

After a veto, a restart and months of negotiations, the City Council is expected on Thursday to pass the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, or COPA, a bill that would give nonprofit groups a head start on buying some of the city's most troubled apartment buildings before they hit the open market.

The Committee on Housing and Buildings is scheduled to vote at 11 a.m., and the full Council holds its stated meeting at 1:30 p.m., according to the Council's calendar. The bill has 33 sponsors, more than the 26 votes needed, and the Council traditionally brings a bill to the floor only when it has the votes to pass, Gothamist reported. Mayor Zohran Mamdani supports it and, unlike his predecessor, does not plan to veto it, The Real Deal reported.

Which buildings it covers

COPA applies to buildings with at least four apartments that the city's housing agency, HPD, considers distressed. That includes buildings averaging three or more Class B or C violations per unit, buildings in the city's Alternative Enforcement Program for the worst-maintained properties, and properties facing municipal foreclosure over unpaid taxes and fees. Some buildings of 100 or fewer units with affordability agreements managed by HPD are also covered. Owner-occupied buildings with five or fewer units are exempt, Realtor.com reported.

HPD estimated in September that about 2,100 properties would qualify today and that roughly 300 buildings sold last year would have met the criteria.

How a sale would work

• Notice: an owner planning to sell a covered building must notify HPD and qualified buyers.
• 20 days: tenant groups, nonprofits and some joint ventures can say they are interested and request financial information.
• 70 days: they can make an offer, which the owner can reject.
• Right to match: if the owner later agrees to sell to someone else, a qualified buyer gets a chance to match that price and terms.

Supporters say community land trusts and nonprofits often learn a building is for sale only after a faster conventional buyer has moved in. Sponsor Council Member Sandy Nurse of Brooklyn says the bill gives neighbors "community control" of buildings plagued by hazards and financial trouble, and backers point to properties like those of jailed landlord Daniel Ohebshalom in Upper Manhattan as the kind of buildings that could qualify.

How it got here

The Council passed an earlier version last year, but then-Mayor Eric Adams vetoed it in December, days before leaving office. In January, Speaker Julie Menin chose not to hold an override vote after the city's Law Department raised legal concerns, and the Council restarted the process. Nurse reintroduced a narrower bill in May with a shorter timeline, and the Real Estate Board of New York now says it is OK with the "more targeted and practical bill," according to Gothamist.

Nurse amended the bill again Thursday, The Real Deal reported: HPD can no longer add new categories of buildings on its own, only recommend them; it can extend a nonprofit's offer deadline by no more than five days; and the bill adds a two-year statute of limitations for lawsuits under COPA while allowing plaintiffs to seek compensatory damages.

The opposition

Small Property Owners of New York still opposes any version. Its board president, Ann Korchak, says the waiting periods would discourage buyers who have the money to quickly buy and repair failing properties and would give nonprofits and the city an unfair advantage. In Washington, D.C., where tenants rather than nonprofits get purchase rights, a 2026 Urban Institute analysis found the law helped create or preserve about 16,000 affordable units from 2006 to 2020, but researchers stressed that it works only alongside financing, Realtor.com noted.