community land trusts

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.

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.

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.