Council Member Nurse urges passage of COPA after six-year effort

Thank you, Councilwoman Nurse, followed by Brewer, then Banks.

Thank you, Majority Leader.

Looking forward to Councilman Marano's housing proposals.

Colleagues, today we end the six-year saga.

I'm directing my remarks to the body.

Colleagues, today we end the six-year saga of the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act.

This has gone through three mayors.

It's been introduced four times.

It's had three hearings.

It's been passed.

It's been vetoed.

And it's had a very intense, bad faith lobbying effort to stop it.

And it all comes down to today's vote.

We are voting on the most strategic, operationally sound version of this bill.

I believe this thing is solid.

COPA lets trusted housing providers buy certain buildings, work with tenants, fix those units up, and keep those tenants in their homes at permanently affordable rents.

It is a critical anti-displacement tool, and as one in five New Yorkers say they plan to leave within the next five years because it costs too damn much to live here, today we are offering a chance for families to stay.

We can not only build our way out of this crisis, if we are serious about stopping displacement, preserving existing housing has to be a priority.

And that's what COPA does.

When a building is at risk, the people who live there and the surrounding community get a chance to fight for it.

It gives eligible landlords a pool of community-oriented buyers who know how to do this work, and it brings those buildings under public oversight.

I really want to thank Speaker Menon for making this a priority.

I want to thank my colleagues who championed it and those who patiently heard me out.

Many times your input has been extremely invaluable, and because of it, I believe this is a program that the council is going to be able to stand by for years to come.

So thank you, and I once again ask for your vote for COPA.

Thank you.

Majority Leader.