City Council Passes COPA, Sending Housing Bill to Mamdani

The New York City Council on Thursday passed the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, a bill that would give nonprofit housing groups first crack at buying certain distressed apartment buildings. The measure now heads to Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is expected to sign it into law, according to Bisnow.

The vote was 38 in favor, nine opposed and two abstentions. Known as COPA, the legislation requires owners of qualifying multifamily properties to offer them first to nonprofit entities, which can bid alone or with a joint venture partner, when the buildings are headed for sale. The city estimates the law could touch as many as 2,100 apartment buildings.

The final text is narrower than earlier versions. It covers relatively small buildings, as well as properties with affordability agreements with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. A building must also show a record of distress, such as numerous open violations. Under the version that passed, the transaction window for qualified nonprofit buyers was cut from 160 days to 145. Sellers who skip the notification step and sell a covered property without alerting the city could face a penalty capped at 15 percent of the sale price, but enforcement now carries a two-year statute of limitations. The bill also drops a provision that would have let HPD add new categories of buildings to the program, though the agency can still recommend them. HPD must notify owners annually if their properties meet the criteria, and owners can appeal by arguing that a building’s problems stem from financial hardship.

COPA has a long history at City Hall. Versions of the bill have circulated since 2020. A 2025 version passed in late December over objections from the commercial real estate industry, but then-Mayor Eric Adams vetoed it on his last day in office. Speaker Julie Menin, newly elected in early January, declined to override that veto, though she revived 17 other vetoed bills. Menin abstained on the bill in December and voted yes on Thursday. Council Member Sandy Nurse, the bill’s sponsor, reintroduced it in May with Mamdani’s endorsement.

Nurse framed the measure as a preservation tool. “We cannot only build our way out of this crisis,” she said. “If we are serious about stopping displacement, preserving existing housing has to be a priority, and that’s what COPA does.”

Landlord groups remain firmly opposed. Ann Korchak, board president of Small Property Owners of New York, called COPA a “devious housing scheme” that lets government “illegally take private property.” Kenny Burgos, CEO of the New York Apartment Association, said the Council had been responsive to stakeholders but is “still missing the forest for the trees.”

Market participants told Bisnow the law could complicate sales. Victor Sozio, founding partner at Ariel Property Advisors, said it “definitely makes owners and investors more wary about investing in this market.”

Industry figures also argue COPA is one more obstacle to Mamdani’s pledge to build 200,000 affordable units over the next decade. They contend the new 485-x tax abatement does not make enough new construction feasible, and that the two-year rent freeze for stabilized apartments limits owners’ ability to fund repairs on aging buildings, Bisnow reported.