Press Releases

April

2024

18

Groups, Tenants, Electeds Rally at City Hall, Demand Council Boost Community Land Trusts To Keep New Yorkers Housed

On Thursday, more than 50 community, housing, and environmental justice groups and elected officials rallied at City Hall for the Community Land Act, a slate of local bills that would give community land trusts (CLTs) tools to remove land from the speculative market and expand community- and tenant-controlled permanently affordable housing in Black and brown neighborhoods. The action took place as Governor Hochul pushes a disastrous housing proposal that would embolden predatory landlords and exacerbate the displacement of low-income tenants.

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February

2024

13

Tenants, Community Groups, and Electeds Launch Campaign to Pass the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act With Rally in Brooklyn

As soaring housing costs continue to push New Yorkers out of their neighborhoods and the state, members of the Housing Justice for All and New York City Community Land Initiative coalitions rallied with elected officials, tenants and other advocates on Thursday to demand passage of the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) in this year’s state legislative session. The rally followed on the heels of a new Community Service Society poll that found an overwhelming majority of New Yorkers support TOPA Legislation.

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December

2023

8

Advocates Win Far-Reaching Appellate Court Victory Challenging Abusive Debt Collection

Advocates won a unanimous decision in the Appellate Division, First Department, upending over a decade of bad case law that enabled unscrupulous debt collectors to extract massive amounts of wealth from low-income neighborhoods. The decision will rein in widespread debt collection schemes to fraudulently garnish wages and freeze bank accounts in violation of New Yorkers’ constitutional due process rights.

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November

2023

2

New Research Shows Nonprofits Vastly Outdid For-Profits in Creation of Deeply Affordable Housing

As New Yorkers grapple with skyrocketing rents and homelessness, more than 20 community, affordable housing, and environmental justice groups joined local elected officials to rally at City Hall in support of the Community Land Act – a set of bills to bring land and housing into permanently-affordable community control, through community land trusts (CLTs) and other nonprofit social housing models. The coalition urged the City Council to pass the bills this session, to address root causes of the city’s affordability crisis and combat displacement in Black and brown communities.

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October

2023

31

Attorney General James Highlights Deep Racial Gaps in Homeownership Across New York

New York Attorney General Letitia James released a new report today detailing deep racial disparities in homeownership and access to home financing across the state. Among the report’s top findings is a stark racial gap in homeownership rates in every region in New York, with white households owning their homes at nearly double the rate of households of color. These disparities are a significant contributor to the racial wealth gap and result in higher housing costs for homebuyers of color, making it harder for communities of color to build lasting financial security and overcome decades of systemic discrimination in the housing market. The report also offers policy proposals to help close the homeownership gap. 

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