NY rent bill gains steam, COPA earns majority Council support

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Hello, let’s get into today’s news at the intersection of policy and real estate:

A bill to help expand rent regulation beyond New York City is gaining traction.
COPA has a majority of City Council support.
A pressure campaign is mounting for the City Council to pass the Monitor Point project.

In this edition we mention: State Sen. Brian Kavanagh, Assembly member Sarahana Shrestha, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Council member Sandy Nurse, Open New York Director of Organization Asia Thomas and others.

We Heard

Crunch time: With fewer than two weeks left in the legislative session, progressive state lawmakers are racing to expand rent regulation beyond New York City, pushing a bill that would make it easier for localities across the state to opt in. The Rent Emergency Stabilization for Tenants (REST) Act, sponsored by State Senate Housing Committee Chair Brian Kavanagh and Assembly member Sarahana Shrestha, cleared both the Assembly’s housing and codes committees Wednesday, inching it closer to a floor vote in that chamber. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie told reporters that the bill is on his radar and that lawmakers are in talks about taking it up. Housing advocates joined Kavanagh, Shrestha and other bill sponsors in Albany on Wednesday to rally for the bill’s passage. Currently, state law allows municipalities outside New York City to adopt rent stabilization if they declare a housing emergency by proving, through a vacancy study, that the rental vacancy rate is 5 percent or lower. Kavanagh and Shrestha’s bill would create a new path to rent stabilization by allowing localities to use publicly available data, including housing supply, affordability, rent burdens and homelessness rates. Once a housing emergency is declared, the bill would allow regulation of buildings with four or more units (the current threshold is six or more) and buildings that were built or substantially rehabilitated more than 15 years ago (currently, only pre-1974 buildings are generally eligible). Some upstate cities have pursued rent regulation: Kingston is battling landlords in court over imposing rent control, while courts struck down similar measures in Poughkeepsie and Newburgh. Landlords have mobilized against the legislation, with multiple upstate landlord associations and business groups lobbying lawmakers against the bill behind closed doors. Among them is the state-wide Homeowners For An Affordable New York coalition, arguing that the measure would result in “less housing, less investment and higher costs” for tenants and landlords alike. “New York cannot afford to turn the entire state into New York City’s housing disaster,” said the coalition in a statement. “After more than 80 years of rent regulation, New York City still faces chronic housing shortages and deteriorating buildings — and the REST Act would export that failure statewide.”
COPA majority: The City Council’s controversial Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, or COPA, secured majority support Thursday, achieving 26 sponsors — enough to pass if it reaches the floor. When that vote could happen remains unclear, though Council Speaker Julie Menin’s office has committed to holding a hearing later this year. The bill’s lead sponsor, Council member Sandy Nurse, told The Real Deal Thursday that she expects the legislation to go before the Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings with a hearing this fall and hopes to pass the measure before year’s end. “We've quickly secured a majority, and we also have a mayor who supports it,” said Nurse. “So we're feeling really good and confident about this version of the bill.” Nurse introduced a revised version of COPA earlier this month after the Council failed to override former Mayor Eric Adams’ veto of the measure at the start of the year. The bill would give city-approved nonprofits — and joint ventures with for-profit developers — the first opportunity to buy distressed multifamily buildings and properties with expiring affordability restrictions, a proposal that has drawn fierce opposition from the real estate industry. Council member Linda Lee, chair of the body’s finance committee, is the latest to sign on to the bill. She supported last year’s version, but was absent from the list of initial sponsors when COPA was reintroduced on May 14. Nurse said she expects additional Council members to sign onto the bill.
Development battle: Pro-housing advocates and labor unions are ramping up City Council pressure to approve the contested Monitor Point project, a proposed 1,150-unit Greenpoint waterfront development entering the final stage of the city’s land use review process with an uncertain fate. Open New York, nonprofit developer St. Nicks Alliance, 32BJ SEIU and others are organizing a rally ahead of next Wednesday’s Council zoning subcommittee hearing, spotlighting the project’s 460 permanently affordable apartments, or 40 percent of the proposed units. “We're excited about the affordability that the project already has,” said Asia Thomas, director of organizing at Open New York. “We don't want a situation where it's all or nothing, and the community ends up with nothing.” The Gotham Organization plans to build three residential towers on parcels leased from the Greenpoint Monitor Museum and the MTA. But local Council member Lincoln Restler has said he won’t support the rezoning unless Gotham increases affordability to at least half the units and the Mamdani administration commits to completing Bushwick Inlet Park, a long-delayed promise tied to the 2005 Williamsburg-Greenpoint rezoning. Local opponents, including Save the Inlet, argue the rezoning “promised this land would serve as a buffer and transition zone — not high rise towers” and that it would spur neighborhood displacement. In a walk-and-talk video circulating on social media, an Open New York member pitches the project as a way to chip away at the city’s housing crisis. “As housing costs soar in New York, this project in Brooklyn represents a solution,” the speaker says. “Opponents use affordability as an excuse to block the project. But their alternative is zero new affordable housing.” The project has already cleared the City Planning Commission and now heads to the City Council for final consideration.

Have a tip or feedback? Reach me at caroline.spivack@therealdeal.com.

Bill Tracker

Bill Number	Lead Sponsor(s)	Summary	Committee	Last Action Date / Status
S4659/A4877	State Sen. Brian Kavanagh and Assembly member Sarahana Shrestha	Would make it easier for localities to enact rent regulation outside of New York City	Referred to Senate finance committee, Assembly rules committee	May 20
Intro. 0905	City Council member Sandy Nurse	Would give city-approved nonprofits and joint ventures with for-profit developers the first opportunity to buy certain buildings	Referred to Committee on Housing and Buildings	May 14

The Catch-Up

New York’s proposed tax on all-cash purchases appears to be falling apart.

The state “End Toxic Home Flipping Act” seeks to stop house flippers — described in a promotional flier as “wealthy investors” who superficially renovate homes for “huge profits” — with a punitive flip tax, writes TRD columnist Erik Engquist.

Seven weeks after the April 1 budget deadline, the state’s increasingly tedious budget negotiations are finally coming in for a landing. Lawmakers voted on the first of nine remaining budget bills on Wednesday, reports NY1.

The House passed a bill to address the nation’s housing affordability crisis. It encourages homebuilding and would ban corporate landlords from buying up more than 350 houses. The bill will now go back to the Senate to be considered for final passage

The Kicker

“The state is recognizing that preservation must remain a central part of New York’s housing strategy,” said Rafael Cestero, CEO of nonprofit lender and investor the Community Preservation Corporation on the new J-51 tax break in the state budget.