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Community Land Trust advocates seek $3 million citywide initiative expansion
Summary
Community land trust organizers and community-based CLTs told the council that modest, multi-year discretionary funding has been catalytic for tenant organizing and acquisitions and urged the council to double the CLT initiative to $3 million to expand staffing, technical assistance and tenant-to-owner conversions across neighborhoods.
Representatives of multiple community land trusts — including groups from the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Western Queens — told the council that a citywide Community Land Trust (CLT) initiative supported with discretionary council grants has enabled early-stage organizing, tenant technical assistance and the first multifamily acquisitions and conversions to community ownership.
Speakers including leaders from the East New York Community Land Trust, the Bronx Community Land Trust, Western Queens CLT and the citywide CLT coalition described winning one or two small contracts as transformative: the funding allowed them to organize tenants in distressed buildings, prepare properties for acquisition and develop plans for long‑term cooperative ownership. Groups said they operate on lean staff and that the initiative’s current city allocation (about $1.5 million in prior cycles) is insufficient to meet demand across dozens of neighborhoods.
Advocates asked the council to fund the CLT initiative at $3 million in FY26 — an amount they described as necessary to add staff for tenant assistance, technical assistance to new CLTs, and modest project development funds to get more acquisitions and tenant conversions across the finish line. They also warned that delays in city contract delivery and late discretionary payments harm nascent CLTs that cannot bridge gaps.
Why it matters: CLTs are designed to provide permanent affordability and resident control; advocates argue city seed funding is cost-efficient because it leverages other public and private capital while preserving long-term affordability.
Council follow-up: Committee staff requested written budgets and pipeline lists from CLT groups for committee consideration during adoption and to identify where CLT funding should be prioritized.
