New York City Council is set to vote on a series of bills rejected by former Mayor Adams before leaving office this week. According to multiple sources, the newly appointed City Council Speaker, Julie Menin, plans to lead the council in overturning 17 of those rejected bills to reactivate relevant legislation, but three bills will not be included, indicating they will not become law.
One of the three bills not being overturned is the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA, also known as Int. 902-B). The original intention of this bill was to grant specific non-profit organizations and housing groups the right of first refusal to purchase apartment buildings for sale, which faced strong opposition from the real estate industry, including many Chinese landlords.
The other two bills not included in the overturn list are Int. 1433-A, which requires a certain percentage of new city-funded affordable housing to be two or three-bedroom units, and Int. 1451-A, which allows the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) direct access to police body camera footage without going through the NYPD.
Jack Lobel, a spokesman for the City Council Speaker’s office, stated that council members discussed the rejected bills in a Democratic caucus meeting on Monday and had ample opportunity to express their views outside the meeting. He mentioned, “At the upcoming meeting, the number of rejections to be overturned by the City Council will exceed the total of the past decade. This is an unprecedented move, as the council is prepared to overturn bills that have clearly gained more than a two-thirds majority.”
These bills were initially passed in late 2025 at the City Council, but with the start of the new year, eight new council members came into office. In recent weeks, various interest groups have been actively lobbying the new members to influence their stance on the overturn vote. According to regulations, overturning a mayor’s veto requires a three-thirds majority, which means at least 34 out of 51 council members must support it.
This week’s meeting will be Menin’s first time presiding over a veto vote, with a total of 17 bills on the agenda, expected to attract widespread attention.
The bills set to be overturned include raising the cap on street vendor permits, prohibiting federal immigration authorities from establishing offices at Rikers Island prison, and preventing high-volume ride-sharing companies from deactivating drivers, among others. Additionally, the council also plans to overturn Int. 1297, a bill singularly rejected by Adams in his last week in office, which extends the statute of limitations for legal claims filed under the Gender-Based Violence Protection Law by the city government.
Council Member Sandy Nurse, the sponsor of the COPA bill, stated that she will continue to push for its passage, whether this week or later this year. She emphasized that COPA is a major policy priority for progressive lawmakers. However, the bill only passed with 31 votes initially and faces strong opposition from landlords and real estate groups. According to Politico, although Mayor Mamdani expressed support for COPA, the city’s legal department recently raised legal concerns about the bill, adding uncertainty to its prospects.