Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed a controversial law Tuesday that gives qualified nonprofits the first opportunity to pursue certain distressed residential buildings before those properties reach New York City’s open market. The Community Opportunity to Purchase Act is known as COPA, as reported [1] by The New York Post.
The measure represents only the second bill Mamdani has signed during the 11 months since he took office. The City Council revived a reduced version of the proposal last month after the legislation had repeatedly surfaced in prior years.
Officials said the law will affect about 2,100 properties across the five boroughs. Mamdani signed it during a Brooklyn news conference held outside a housing development in Cypress Hills.
“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.
The mayor’s signature was not necessarily required for the proposal to become law. The City Council passed it last month by a 38 to 9 margin, giving the measure a majority large enough to overcome a mayoral veto.
Progressives and Council Speaker Julie Menin supported the legislation. While Mamdani added his signature this time, critics have noted that he has allowed more than 100 other bills to become law through a process known as “returned unsigned.”
Under that process, legislation becomes law after remaining on the mayor’s desk for four weeks without a veto. Mamdani’s decision to formally sign COPA therefore stands out during his tenure at City Hall.
Earlier versions of the proposal drew sharp opposition, including criticism that the legislation amounted to an “attack on private real estate ownership.” The measure was changed in recent weeks and eventually secured support from some real estate groups.
City Council member Sandy Nurse of Brooklyn said the compromise still creates what she described as the nation’s largest opportunity to purchase program. She also emphasized how long supporters had worked to push COPA through city government.
“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 is scheduled to take effect one year from Tuesday. It applies to landlords of buildings primarily covered by rent stabilization when those properties also have outstanding housing code violations.
Before listing an eligible building on the open market, a landlord must notify the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development. That requirement begins a process giving qualified nonprofit organizations an early opportunity to pursue the property.
Landlords must wait through a 20 day bidding window during which qualified nonprofits can express interest. An interested nonprofit then receives a maximum of 70 days to submit an official first offer for the building.
Property owners are not required to accept that initial nonprofit offer. An owner may instead invoke a right of first refusal and negotiate a contract with an outside buyer, but that deal does not immediately end the nonprofit’s opportunity.
The owner must return to the qualified nonprofits and give them a chance to match the outside buyer’s offer. Under COPA, a nonprofit has 15 days to match the terms negotiated with the other purchaser.
If the nonprofit matches those terms within the required period, the landlord must sell the property to the nonprofit rather than the outside buyer. The law therefore gives approved organizations another opportunity even after an owner has negotiated elsewhere.
MAMDANI IS COMING FOR YOUR PROPERTY RIGHTS
Team Mamdani wants government-approved nonprofits to get first crack at private property sales.
How much real estate experience does he have?
Zero. https://t.co/WpTMdGnfV0
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) November 12, 2026 [3]
The measure includes an exemption for small landlords. COPA does not apply to owners whose buildings contain five or fewer units, limiting the program to larger eligible residential properties that meet the law’s requirements.