Mayor Mamdani Signs COPA Law Giving Nonprofits First Offer on NYC Buildings

Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act legislation on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, in New York.

The newly enacted COPA law will affect about 2,100 properties across the five boroughs, officials announced at a Brooklyn news conference outside a Cypress Hills housing development. Mamdani put his signature on the bill—marking only the second measure he has signed in the 11 months since taking office—after the City Council resurrected a watered-down version of the legislation last month.

“I am so proud today to sign COPA into law — a historic piece of legislation that will provide vetted community organizations with the right of first opportunity to make an offer on eligible buildings before they go to the open market,” Mamdani told reporters.

Mayor Mamdani Signs COPA Law Giving Nonprofits First Offer on NYC Buildings

The legislation was poised to become law even without the mayor’s explicit backing after clearing the City Council with a veto-proof 38-9 majority last month, backed by progressives and Council Speaker Julie Menin. Yet actual mayoral signatures remain rare in Mamdani’s tenure.

Critics have pointed out that he has allowed more than 100 other bills to pass as “returned unsigned,” a mechanism allowing legislation to become law after four weeks if it sits on his desk without a veto.

The policy has faced fierce opposition over multiple iterations, previously drawing labels as an “attack on private real estate ownership” before recent revisions secured the buy-in of select real estate groups. City Council member Sandy Nurse said that the compromise version remains the largest opportunity to purchase program in the country.

“Six years, six years, four introductions, four hearings, three mayors, two times it was passed, one time it was vetoed—that is the very short history of the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act,” Nurse said.

The law takes effect one year from Tuesday. It prevents landlords of primarily rent-stabilized buildings carrying outstanding housing code violations from listing their properties on the open market until they notify the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

Landlords must then wait out a 20-day bidding window for qualified nonprofits to express interest in the property, followed by a maximum of 70 days to submit an official first offer. Owners are not required to accept the nonprofit’s offer and can instead trigger a right of first refusal to negotiate a contract with an outside buyer.

However, those owners must then return to qualified nonprofits and give them 15 days to match the outside buyer’s terms. If a nonprofit matches the terms, the landlord is legally required to complete the sale with the nonprofit instead of the third-party buyer. COPA exempts small landlords who own buildings with five or fewer units.

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