Press Releases

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.

More >

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. 

More >

July

2023

21

New Economy Appeals Court Ruling that Harms NYer and Stacks Deck in Favor of Predatory Debt Collectors

A debt collector obtained a default judgment against Sharae Banks through fraud, falsely claiming that it had properly notified her when it sued her years earlier. A lower court then barred Ms. Banks from challenging the default judgment, upholding the debt collector’s blatant violations of her basic due process rights. New Economy Project has filed an appeal, joined by co-counsel and amicus NYS Attorney General Letitia James, to reverse the ruling.

More >

June

2023

28

MTA To Rein in Unfair Collection Practices Under Settlement in Federal Class Action Challenging Systemic Violations of Low-Income New Yorkers’ Civil Rights

A federal court granted preliminary approval of a settlement in a class action lawsuit charging the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA), an arm of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), with aggressively going after thousands of New Yorkers for alleged debts in violation of their constitutional due process rights.

More >

June

2023

22

Once Again, Albany Prioritizes Big Banks and Real Estate Over New York Communities

This year’s legislative session followed an all-too-familiar pattern of monied interests driving the state’s legislative agenda at the expense of working class New Yorkers. Our coalition strongly denounces Albany’s failure to enact the New York Public Banking Act (S1754/A3352), which would create a framework for local public banks that would leverage public deposits toward investments in affordable housing, small and worker-owned businesses, renewable energy, and other urgent needs in low-income communities and historically-redlined Black and brown neighborhoods.

More >

June

2023

22

Community Groups, Tenants, and Electeds Rally at City Hall for Legislation, Funding to Expand Community Land Trusts

In the wake of Albany’s failure to address the affordable housing crisis, more than 50 community, housing, and environmental justice groups and elected officials gathered at City Hall Park to call on the City to enact the Community Land Act, a slate of bills to expand community control of land and permanently-affordable housing in low-income Black and brown neighborhoods. The coalition also urged the City Council to fund the Community Land Trust (CLT) Initiative at $3 million in the FY24 budget, to support 20 groups organizing CLTs across the five boroughs.

More >

May

2023

25

New Yorkers Demand a Public Bank at First-Ever Hearing on Banks Eligible to Hold Billions in NYC Deposits

Dozens of New Yorkers representing community groups across the city testified today at the first-ever public hearing before the NYC Banking Commission on the designation of banks eligible to hold municipal deposits. A familiar refrain at the hearing was the call for a public bank to hold city funds and reinvest in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color that the big banks routinely fail to serve.

More >

May

2023

17

110+ Groups Call on Mayor and City Council Speaker to Address Affordability Crisis in Wake of State Inaction on Housing

A coalition of 113 community and affordable housing groups delivered a letter to New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Mayor Eric Adams, urging them to take bold and immediate action to address the city’s affordability crisis. Citing the state’s failure to strengthen tenant protections or pass other housing justice measures in the recent budget, the letter calls on City leaders to enact 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.

More >

Join the Movement!