Pratt Center

NYC is experiencing dangerously cold temps following this week's snowstorm. Warming centers are open across the city — including locations in Harlem & Upper Manhattan

If you or someone you know needs a warm place to go, don't wait

Find locations and warming buses near you at the link in our bio

Join us on March 11 at 12 PM for a webinar with our community partners, where we'll walkthrough the toolkit's resources and how organization's can adapt EnergyFit's model to fit their local needs.

RSVP: prattcenter.net/our_work/ene...

We're proud to present a new resource for organizations looking to help 1-4 family homes decarbonize: the EnergyFit Toolkit!

It hosts learnings from our long-running program EnergyFit, which has delivered over 80+ free retrofits to homes in low-income communities: prattcenter.net/our_work/ene...

Join NY Renews in their mobilization to Albany to tell NYS to protect New York communities from ICE raids, sky-high costs, and the existential threat of the climate crisis. RSVP below!

Read @nyccli.bsky.social’s statement on the City Council’s decision not to override Eric Adams’ veto of the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA).

Join this community meeting on improving bus service south of Grand Army Plaza on Flatbush Avenue, hosted by @ridersalliance.org!

Our co-published research shows how bus delays disproportionately affect low-income Flatbush residents.

Read our full report: prattcenter.net/our_work/bet...

NY Renews Coalition Responds to Governor Hochul’s Executive Budget — NY Renews Governor Hochul’s Executive Budget leaves New Yorkers without bold, ongoing investments in clean air, clean energy, or climate justice. In an era of accelerating climate catastrophe, the Governor’s ap...

The climate crisis is pummeling NY. While @governor.ny.gov claims this budget will help protect us from federal cuts and high taxes, she is abandoning the programs that would actually protect us from deadly heat, rising seas, and high energy bills:

www.nyrenews.org/news/ny-rene...

In December we passed COPA thanks to a broad coalition of supporters.

Big real estate $ funded misinformation campaigns and muddied the waters on what COPA is and what it isn’t.

Now is the time to set the record straight 🧵

NYC is creating its first Environmental Justice Plan (EJNYC Plan). The Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice wants your input on priority EJ issues and solutions across the city.

Take the survey & make your voice heard: nyc.gov/ej

COPA Has Helped Prevent Displacement in San Francisco. It Can Work in New York City, Too. Op-ed: As New York City considers its own Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, San Francisco shows how to give nonprofits a fair chance to buy homes — without freezing development or investment.

"San Francisco’s results are clear: COPA works." Since 2019, COPA has preserved 436 homes for more than 1,000 residents without slowing the market.

Read the latest op-ed in @nextcity.org that breaks down why it can work in New York City.
nextcity.org/urbanist-new...

Basement Apartment Rules Get Low Marks from Housing Experts Long-awaited city regulations to let basement residences get legalized could add risks for homeowners, bring more harm than help, housing advocates and lawyers say.

There's a lot in here about the proposed basement apartment legalization rules that sources called "cartoonishly absurd" and "draconian."

I want to point to the piece of news that 🚨 NOT ONE 🚨homeowner made it all the way through the 2019 basement legalization pilot.

www.thecity.nyc/2025/12/08/b...

📢NEW: Major @nydailynews.com op-ed backs COPA—and the fight for an affordable NYC.

The piece from Fifth Avenue Committee's Michelle de la Uz lays out why the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act is essential to keeping New Yorkers in their homes.

PASS COPA NOW!
www.nydailynews.com/2025/12/09/n...

Basement Apartment Rules Get Low Marks from Housing Experts Long-awaited city regulations to let basement residences get legalized could add risks for homeowners, bring more harm than help, housing advocates and lawyers say.

Long-awaited city regulations to let basement residences get legalized could add risks for homeowners, bring more harm than help, housing advocates and lawyers say.

www.thecity.nyc/2025/12/08/b...

The city will hold a hearing this week on DOB rules for a basement legalization program — but, as our Director of Research & Policy Sylvia Morse said today in @thecity.nyc, "these rules cannot be passed as is, or else the program will fail."

In NYC, 1 out of every 8 homes is now owned by an investor; in Manhattan, 1 out of 2.

Neither rents nor the purchase price of homes will become more affordable for most until we take the profit motive out of enough units.

That's why @neweconomyproject.bsky.social is leading the fight to pass COPA.

“We are tired of seeing predatory speculators swoop into the Lower East Side and displace tenants. Pass COPA now!” —Illapa of Cooper Square Committee

Call for COPA! New Yorkers want real affordable housing, and COPA can deliver by giving CLTs and other nonprofits the first chance to buy buildings when landlords sell. bit.ly/CALL4COPA

The Community Opportunity to Purchase Act has:
1. A veto proof majority in City Council
2. Support from 200 community and
youth groups, community land trusts, and mission driven developers
3. Mayor-elect Mamdani’s endorsement
No time to lose! @nycspeakeradams.bsky.social pass #COPA!

NYSERDA's HAUNTED Board Meeting to support EMPOWER+ Attend a “haunted” NYSERDA Board meeting where we will give EMPOWER+ themed candy to the board members and staff. We will gather outside of the board meeting in halloween costumes to take pictures, ta...

🚨 Join this action on 10/22 to defend Empower+, the program that has provided thousands of New Yorkers with energy efficiency and electrification incentives is now expected to be gutted by NYSERDA and the Governor. RSVP: actionnetwork.org/events/nyser...

Your guide to using the home energy tax credits before they're gone Save on better appliances before the year ends. Help for all your tax credit and installation questions.

Install now, get money back later 💰

We’re excited to launch Save on Better Appliances, a nationwide campaign to help homeowners save money on home energy upgrades before the federal tax credits expire.

Get started: rewiringamerica.org/save?utm_medium=social&utm_source=social&utm_campaign=SOBA (🧵)

Community Land Trusts Are Standing Up to New York City’s Worst Landlords New legislation could accelerate a growing movement of tenants who refuse to be at the mercy of developers and want to take ownership of their communities’ resources.

There is legislation at both the New York City and State level that would accelerate the vibrant movement of New Yorkers seeking to take ownership of the resources in their communities and remove the profit from housing, writes Aviva Stahl.

Lisa Marshall of NYers for Clean Power called EmPower+ “one of the most successful programs the state has."

Yet, upcoming funding cuts risk sidelining the very communities New York’s energy transition is meant to help.

Read more: www.timesunion.com/state/articl...

What do NYC’s new draft fair housing goals mean for property owners facing climate risk?

Pratt Center's Sylvia Morse told
@citylimitsnews.bsky.social: “Identifying displacement risk as a fair housing problem is right—the challenge is ensuring we can actually carry out equitable solutions.”

Extreme weather is a part of New Yorkers new reality. As our environmental and housing crises collide, those living in basement apartments are most at risk.

@voteshekar.bsky.social and I are calling on NYS to expand basement conversion programs across flood-prone communities like ours.

Inside NYC's Racial Equity Planning Tools: Wins, Gaps, and What's Next A conversation with the co-authors behind Pratt Center's newest report

Read the full interview:
prattcenter.substack.com/p/inside-nyc...

In June, we released a new report on the City's racial equity tools four years after their launch in NYC’s land use process. We talked with co-authors Tara Duvivier and Eve Baron about what inspired them and why community-led tools are essential for equitable city planning.

📢 Important reporting on basement apartments—and why their safety is needed to enforce protections from future climate disasters. ‼️‼️

Learn more and apply: prattcenter.net/about_us/wor...

Are you data-savvy? Care about NYC policy? Ready to use your mapping skills to advance a more equitable city?

Join our team! We're #hiring a Data & GIS Manager to lead mapping, analysis, and data visualization at Pratt Center.

Our letter on the Brooklyn Marine Terminal urging the city to ensure publicly-owned land is used for a public purpose—delivering public benefits like permanently income-restricted housing affordable to the community’s lowest income households, among other provisions.
prattcenter.net/news/brookly...