New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed a bill into law Tuesday that hands government-vetted nonprofits and community groups the first shot at buying certain apartment buildings before private buyers ever get a chance.
The Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA) gives what the mayor’s office calls “qualified nonprofits and community groups the first opportunity to purchase certain multifamily buildings before they hit the private market.”
Under the law, the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) will keep a government list of “qualified entities” — nonprofits, tenant groups, community land trusts and other organizations the city deems sufficiently “mission-driven.” To get on the list, these groups must show the city they have experience acquiring and managing affordable housing, plus the financial capacity to pull off a purchase.
Once a covered building goes up for sale, the city’s approved groups get an exclusive 145-day window to make a deal before anyone else can buy it. If that offer falls through and a different buyer later makes an offer within the following year, the qualified entity still gets the right to match it and take the sale instead.
The properties subject to this scheme are multifamily buildings with four or more units that are in “significant disrepair,” along with any buildings already under HPD affordability agreements. City officials say the law will apply to roughly 2,100 properties across the five boroughs.
Mamdani framed the law as a check on landlords. “Too many New Yorkers have watched their homes deteriorate while landlords extract profits and tenants are left to fight for the repairs they deserve,” he said in a statement. “That’s not how housing should work. Our homes should be places of stability, not vehicles for speculation. COPA puts power in the hands of the community organizations that have spent years serving our neighborhoods and fighting to keep New Yorkers housed.”
Cea Weaver, director of the mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants, said the signing marks a turning point for the city’s housing market. “With COPA signed into law, we are entering a new era for affordable housing in New York City: one where organizations rooted in our communities are able to step in and preserve the affordable housing that New Yorkers rely on,” Weaver said.
Mamdani told reporters he was “proud” to sign what he called “a historic piece of legislation that will provide vetted community organizations with the right of first opportunity to make an offer on eligible buildings,” according to the New York Post.
What the law means in practice: a private property owner looking to sell will no longer control who gets to buy first. City Hall’s approved list of groups gets the opening bid, a built-in waiting period measured in months, and a follow-on right to match any outside offer for a year afterward. Owners of roughly 2,100 buildings now have to clear that process before selling on the open market.
