The New York City Council is poised to approve a measure giving nonprofit groups a chance to buy dilapidated apartment buildings before they hit the open market, after years of false starts and failed attempts to pass previous versions of the legislation.<\/p>\n
The Council\u2019s housing committee is scheduled to vote Thursday on the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act before sending it to the entire body for a final decision later in the day \u2013 all but assuring its approval under a Council tradition of not calling a measure to the floor unless it has the votes to pass.<\/p>\n
The measure, known as COPA, would initially apply to about 2,100 buildings citywide with serious safety or financial problems, according to analysis from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Supporters say their goal is to allow nonprofits to rehabilitate buildings while keeping rents low and responding to tenants\u2019 needs.<\/p>\n
The bill has 33 Council sponsors and the support of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has championed the legislation<\/a> as a way to preserve affordable housing. But it has faced opposition from landlord and real estate groups.<\/p>\n The measure could become the Mamdani administration\u2019s latest tool to steer building sales and promote nonprofit or tenant ownership, following previous efforts to influence a bankruptcy sale<\/a> of more than 5,000 rent-stabilized apartments and back a bid for another portfolio<\/a> of buildings in East Harlem.<\/p>\n The legislation would specifically apply to buildings with at least four apartments deemed \u201cdistressed\u201d by the city\u2019s housing agency, including those with three or more violations per unit, buildings enrolled in a city housing code enforcement program or properties facing municipal foreclosure due to unpaid taxes and fines.<\/p>\n For buildings covered by COPA, owners will be required to notify the city\u2019s housing agency when they plan to sell. That notice would open a 20-day window for tenant groups, nonprofits and some private developers to express their interest in buying the building and to request financial information from the owner. The potential buyers would then have another 70 days to make an offer, followed by a second period of time to match other outside bids.<\/p>\n Councilmember Sandy Nurse, a Brooklyn Democrat who introduced the current version of the bill, said it will deliver \u201ccommunity control\u201d of properties plagued by serious hazards and financial turmoil.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s creating opportunities for neighbors and communities to fight for buildings that are at risk and creates a small window of time for them to compete,\u201d Nurse said.<\/p>\n