Take ACTION to Support the Community Land Act

What

Take ACTION to Support the Community Land Act

When

4/28/2023, 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

The Community Land Act is an urgently-needed set of bills that give community land trusts (CLTs) and other nonprofits tools to develop and preserve permanently-affordable housing, community and commercial spaces, and other critical needs. Together, these measures address root causes of our city’s affordability crisis, combat displacement of low-income New Yorkers, and build collective wealth in Black and brown communities.

The Community Land Act includes:

Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (Intro 196): COPA gives CLTs and other mission-driven nonprofits a first right to purchase multifamily buildings when landlords sell. Modeled on successful legislation implemented in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, COPA would curb speculation and level the playing field for nonprofits to expand the supply of permanently-affordable, community- and tenant-controlled housing.
Public Land for Public Good (Intro 637): Most City-owned land currently goes to for-profit developers, contributing to market-rate development and displacement in low-income Black and Brown communities. Intro 637 would require NYC to prioritize CLTs and nonprofit developers when disposing of City-owned land, to ensure public land is used for permanently-affordable housing and other public benefit.
Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Resolution (Res 38): Resolution 38 calls on the New York State legislature and Governor Hochul to enact legislation giving tenants a first right to collectively purchase their buildings when a landlord sells.
Abolish and Replace the NYC Lien Sale: The City Council must pass legislation prohibiting NYC from resuming the tax lien sale — a Giuliani-era policy that has destabilized and extracted wealth from Black and brown communities — and replace it with an equitable system that engages CLTs to keep New Yorkers in their homes and convert financially distressed buildings into permanently-affordable housing.
Take Action
Use this tool to send a personalized email to your Council Member, urging them to co-sponsor and fight for passage of the Community Land Act.


Sign your organization onto this letter calling for passage of the Community Land Act in 2023!


See video from the New York City Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings hearing on the Community Land Act here.


Check out footage from recent Community Land Act Town Halls in Queens and Manhattan.


Download and share our Community Land Act one-pager!
Community Land Act


The NYC Community Land Act in the News
Opinion: With Community Land Trusts Back in the Spotlight, Lessons from 1970s NYC – City Limits, April 27, 2023

Social Housing in the Spotlight: NYC Lawmakers Seek ‘Paradigm Shift’ in Tackling Affordability Crisis – City Limits, March 10, 2023

Community Groups Push for Community Control of Open Space in the South Bronx – Mott Haven Herald, March 3, 2023

‘Public Land For Public Good,’ Say Housing Advocates – New York Amsterdam News, March 2, 2023

Progressive Pols Press NYC Council to Prioritize Nonprofit Housing Ownership – AM New York, February 24, 2023

NYC Comptroller, Public Advocate, Council Members, Advocates Rally for New Vision for Housing – Press Release, February 23, 2023

Why Brooklyn Residents Want Public Land In Public Hands – Next City, February 9, 2023