Scaled-back COPA passes 38-9, ten months after Adams' veto sat unanswered

The City Council on Thursday passed the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, or COPA. The vote was 38 to 9 with two abstentions, amNY reported. The bill gives certified nonprofits a first chance to buy some troubled apartment buildings when owners decide to sell. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said he will sign it.

Renters in a covered building would see a new kind of buyer at the table: a mission-driven group that HPD has certified. Owners would face a short waiting period before closing a sale to anyone else.

How the bill changed

The new bill is Int. 905-A, sponsored by Council Member Sandy Nurse. It is far narrower than the version Mayor Eric Adams vetoed. According to amNY:

• It covers about 2,100 buildings instead of about 10,000, a cut of nearly 80 percent. Speaker Julie Menin gave the same figures.
• Covered buildings have at least four apartments and serious unresolved violations, long stays in the city's Alternative Enforcement Program, harassment findings, or certain HPD affordability agreements. Buildings whose only affordability rules come from 421-a are left out. So are owner-occupied buildings with five or fewer units.
• Nonprofits get 20 days to say they are interested and 70 days to make an offer, down from 25 and 80. Owners can list, appraise and negotiate with other buyers in the meantime.
• There is a hardship exemption for owners, and a penalty of up to 15 percent of the sale price for skipping the required notices.
• The law takes effect one year after it is enacted.

The Council's press release quotes Nurse saying COPA "will keep thousands of struggling New Yorkers in their homes." amNY quoted her calling the vote the end of a "six-year saga." Landlord groups still object. New York Apartment Association CEO Kenny Burgos told amNY the bill ignores rising operating costs.

What our records add

The old veto was never put to a vote. Adams vetoed the earlier bill, Int. 902-B of 2024, shortly before leaving office. His veto message reached the new Council as M 0009-2026 on January 7. It was referred to the Committee on Housing and Buildings, and our records show no action on it since. An override needs 34 votes. amNY notes the earlier bill passed 31 to 10 in December 2025. This week's 38 votes clear that bar, but on a different bill.

The new version took five months. Nurse reintroduced the bill at the May 14 stated meeting. The Housing and Buildings Committee heard it on September 9, at a hearing that also covered Mamdani's Block by Block housing plan. Nurse described distressed buildings like 2076 Creston Avenue in the Bronx. Committee chair Pierina Ana Sanchez noted it was the third time members had heard the bill together. The HPD commissioner said the administration supports COPA. Council Member Tiffany Cabán asked whether a preservation buyer could use the city's Our Home program to buy a COPA building. The committee amended and approved the bill Thursday morning, and the full Council passed it that afternoon.

Sponsors. The matter record lists 34 sponsors, the same number an override would need. Thirty-eight members voted yes on Thursday. The Clerk's roll call for Thursday hasn't reached our data yet. Once it does, the nine no votes and two abstentions will show on each member's page.

What's next

The bill is on Mamdani's desk. Under the Charter he has 30 days to sign or veto it. If he does neither, it becomes law anyway. Its rules start one year after enactment. Before then, HPD has to certify the "qualified entities" that can bid. Brokers are already preparing sellers for the new timeline, The Real Deal reported.

The bill also requires HPD to report on how COPA is used. Those reports will show how many of the roughly 2,100 eligible buildings actually change hands.