“To create real opportunities, we need two parties entering negotiations with the same goal in mind—the sale of the building to a non-profit or a direct sale to tenants.”

Apartments in East Harlem. (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

Throughout my career, I have been a huge supporter of empowering tenants to become homeowners, which is why it may seem odd that I do not support Intro. 902, or the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA). New York City absolutely needs to advance tenant and non-profit ownership, but I do not believe COPA is the way to achieve this laudable goal.  

To create real opportunities, we need two parties entering negotiations with the same goal in mind—the sale of the building to a non-profit or a direct sale to tenants. This happens when parties begin negotiating voluntarily, usually with a confidentiality agreement in place to establish good faith.

COPA, on the other hand, tries to force parties into a negotiation and does so without any protections for the owner, such as confidential treatment of information they must share—step number one in any private sale negotiation. Also, in the tenant purchases I have worked on, the parties negotiated a memorandum of understanding–something that took months to complete but nonetheless was a critical foundation for the tenants or the non-profit to feel comfortable negotiating with the owner. COPA does not afford this foundational step which is key for successful negotiations.

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COPA also assumes that without a forced sale, there is not a single owner in New York City who would consider the sale of a building to a non-profit. Unbelievably, these owners exist, and I have worked with them in the past. Over the last few years, I have represented tenants, non-profits, and landlords on voluntary COPA deals. In all cases, the negotiations were long, complex, and, in some cases, they did not work out—not because the landlord did not want to sell the building, but due to lack of resources or lack of government support.

As drafted, COPA does not bring the necessary resources to the table for non-profits to cover their necessary capacity building and upfront costs, let alone funding for acquisition and repairs. Without money, these negotiations will not lead to building sales, so it begs the question why there is such a push for COPA.

And for the deals that did result in a sale to a non-profit, that is only half the battle. Transfer of a property to a non-profit does not address capital needs, so without subsidy, nothing will change for the tenants. Plus, most tenants do not want to simply trade one landlord for another. They want to become homeowners.

The American Dream is still alive, even in New York City. I know this is true because tenants call me wanting to know how to convert their building to a cooperative or condominium. When I go through the regulatory steps that make conversion extremely challenging, coupled with the lack of government resources to support cooperative and condominium conversions, they are disappointed. Homeownership is clearly a missing piece of the COPA dialogue.

At this time, the City Council should take a pause on trying to pass COPA. Instead, the incoming Mamdani administration should form a working group to discuss ways to pilot a voluntary COPA program—one that has ready, willing, and able participants and the financial resources needed to support non-profit capacity, as well as money for acquisition and renovations.

This pilot also needs to support homeownership, thereby creating options for cooperative and condominium conversions that make sense for the existing tenants. That means the New York Attorney General’s office should participate. The AG’s office also has the power to resurrect outdated tools such as CPS-3 to give tenants the ability to organize and explore potential conversions with relative ease, as well as ensure that the Real Estate Finance Bureau prioritizes these conversions so that they happen quickly and with as much tenant involvement as possible.  

Until we do this, the COPA carrot will do nothing to advance affordable housing, but it will keep litigators remarkably busy for sure. 

Erica F. Buckley is a partner at Nixon Peabody LLP.

The post Opinion: NYC’s COPA Bill Isn’t Ready for Primetime Yet appeared first on City Limits.

By KELVIN CHAN

LONDON (AP) — Google faces fresh antitrust scrutiny from European Union regulators, who opened an investigation Tuesday into the company’s use of online content for its artificial intelligence models and services.

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The latest regulatory flexing by Brussels risks antagonizing President Donald Trump’s administration, though EU officials denied they were singling out American Big Tech companies.

The European Commission, which is the 27-nation bloc’s top antitrust enforcer, said it’s examining whether Google has breached competition rules through its use of content from web publishers and material uploaded to YouTube for AI purposes.

Regulators are concerned that Google has given itself an unfair advantage by using content for two search services, AI Overviews and AI Mode, without paying publishers and content creators or letting them opt out. AI Overviews are automatically generated summaries that appear at the top of its traditional search results, while AI Mode provides chatbot-style answers to search queries.

They’re also examining whether Google uses videos uploaded to YouTube under similar conditions to train its generative AI models, while shutting out rival AI model developers.

Officials said they’re seeking to determine whether Google gained an edge over AI rivals by imposing unfair terms and conditions, or giving itself privileged access to content.

“This complaint risks stifling innovation in a market that is more competitive than ever,” Google said in statement. “Europeans deserve to benefit from the latest technologies and we will continue to work closely with the news and creative industries as they transition to the AI era.”

The Commission, which is the bloc’s executive arm, is carrying out the investigation under the EU’s longstanding competition regulations, rather than its newer Digital Markets Act that was drawn up to prevent Big Tech companies from monopolizing online markets.

“AI is bringing remarkable innovation and many benefits for people and businesses across Europe, but this progress cannot come at the expense of the principles at the heart of our societies,” Teresa Ribera, the commission’s vice president overseeing competition affairs, said in a statement.

Last week the Commission opened an antitrust investigation into WhatsApp’s AI policy. It also fined Elon Musk’s social media platform X 120 million euros ($140 million) for breaching digital regulations, which drew complaints from Trump officials that American companies were being targeted.

The Commission is “agnostic” about the nationality of companies it is investigating, spokeswoman Arianna Podesta said.

“Of course, the sole focus of our antitrust investigations is a possible illegal behavior and the harm that this could bring to competition and consumers within the European Union,” she told reporters at a regular briefing in Brussels.

Google will have the chance to reply to the concerns and the Commission has also informed U.S. authorities about the investigation, she said.

Brussels has no deadline to wrap up the case, which could result in sanctions including a fine worth up to 10% of the company’s annual global revenue.

Associated Press writer Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed to this report.

By TAMMY WEBBER

The most comprehensive global environment assessment ever undertaken calls for a new approach to jointly tackle the most pressing environmental issues including climate change and biodiversity loss that threaten over 1 million plant and animal species with extinction.

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The U.N. Environment Assembly — which the U.S. government didn’t attend — produced the new report this week by almost 300 scientists from 83 countries.

The issues, which also include land degradation and pollution, are inextricably linked and require solutions that include increased spending and financial incentives to transition away from fossil fuels, encourage sustainable agricultural practices, curb pollution and limit waste, the authors of the U.N. Environment Programme’s Global Environment Outlook said.

“You can’t think of climate change without thinking of biodiversity, land degradation and pollution,” said Bob Watson, one of the lead authors and a former top NASA and British climate scientist. “You can’t think of biodiversity loss without thinking about the implications of climate change and pollution.”

They’re “all undermining our economy,” worsening health and poverty and threatening food and water security and even national security, Watson said.

Experts have warned that the world is nearing a tipping point on climate change, species and land loss and other harms. But efforts to address those problems largely have been pursued through individual agreements that haven’t made nearly enough progress, they said.

Instead, they advocate an approach that involves every area of government, the financial sector, industry and citizens and a circular economy that recognizes that natural resources are limited.

“What we’re saying is we can become much more sustainable, but it will take unprecedented change to transform these systems,” Watson said. “It has to be done rapidly now because we’re running out of time.”

FILE – People walk along a road in a village affected by a flash flood in Batang Toru, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara, File)

Global tipping point

The report lays out a dire future if the world continues on its current path.

Emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases — primarily from burning fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil — reached a new high in 2024, despite decades of negotiations between countries to curb emissions.

Ten years ago, almost 200 nations signed the Paris Agreement with the goal of limiting future warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since preindustrial times to avoid or lessen the most catastrophic effects of climate change. But on the current trajectory, the climate could warm by 2.4 degrees Celsius (4 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2100, Watson said.

Scientists say climate change is contributing to wilder weather extremes, including more intense storms, drought, heat and wildfires.

What’s more, climate change is a threat multiplier, meaning that it makes things like land degradation, deforestation and biodiversity loss worse, said Katharine Hayhoe, a climate scientist at Texas Tech University and chief scientist at the Nature Conservancy, who wasn’t involved in the report.

“If we don’t fix climate change, we’re not going to be able to fix these other issues too,” Hayhoe said.

Among other challenges: Up to 40% of land area globally is degraded, and pollution contributes to an estimated 9 million deaths a year.

FILE – Flood survivors use logs to cross a river in Batang Toru, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Dec. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara, File)

Adopting a comprehensive approach would be expensive, scientists acknowledge, but cost far less than the harms that otherwise could result.

The report says that to achieve a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 and restore biodiversity, about $8 trillion in global investment is needed every year. But starting in 2050, economic benefits will surpass spending, growing to $20 trillion a year by 2070 and $100 trillion a year thereafter.

Nations also must look beyond gross domestic product as a barometer for economic health, because it doesn’t measure whether growth is sustainable or recognize its potential harms, Watson said.

Environmental issues aren’t the only things interlinked, Watson said. He also said governments, nonprofits, industry and the financial sector also must ensure that there are incentives and funding for renewable energy and sustainable agricultural practices, for example.

University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Michael Mann, who wasn’t involved in the report, welcomed its emphasis on tackling issues across governments and society.

“We must do what is right, rather than what seems politically expedient,” Mann said. “The stakes are simply too great.”

International cooperation falters

Despite the report’s urgent call for action, international cooperation is anything but guaranteed, scientists say — especially as U.S. President Donald Trump has refused to participate in many of the discussions.

FILE – The Gibson Power Plant operates April 10, 2025, in Princeton, Ind. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

Trump, who withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement, has called climate change a hoax. He’s promoted fossil fuel use, canceled permits for renewable energy and is abandoning automobile fuel-efficiency standards.

“International action and agreements are becoming harder and harder,” Watson said, noting that this year’s U.N. climate conference in Brazil failed to “move in the direction we needed it to move” with stronger commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other issues.

Talks this summer on a treaty to address plastic pollution in Geneva ended without an agreement, though a U.N. conference earlier in the year garnered commitments for funding to protect global biodiversity.

Watson said that the U.S. didn’t attend the intergovernmental meeting in Nairobi, but joined discussions on the last day and “said they didn’t agree with anything in the report.”

“Some countries might say if the U.S. is not willing to act, why should we act?” Watson said.

Still, he believes that some countries will move forward, while others, including the U.S., could fall behind.

FILE – Traffic crosses a bridge at Woodhead Reservoir in Derbyshire as England experiences a drought in Woodhead, England, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File)

Hayhoe, the Texas Tech scientist, said that she’s confident changes will happen, because the stakes are becoming too great.

“It is not about saving the planet. The planet will be orbiting the sun long after we’re gone,” Hayhoe said. “The question is, will there be a healthy, thriving human society on that planet? And the answer to that question is very much up for grabs at this point.”

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — UN Women and partners published a study Tuesday that found more than two-thirds of women journalists, rights defenders and activists have reported violence online, with over 40% saying they have faced real-world attacks linked to digital abuse.

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The report entitled “Tipping Point” focuses on an escalation in violence targeting such women alongside the rise of social media and artificial intelligence, and draws on input from more than 6,900 human rights defenders, journalists and activists in 119 countries.

The study by UN Women, the United Nations agency that promotes women’s rights, gender equality and empowerment of women and girls, follows a similar report by the U.N. cultural and educational agency UNESCO in 2021 that highlighted the issue.

“Online violence against women has become a growing global crisis,” UN Women said. “What begins on a screen can quickly fuel harassment, intimidation, and even real-world harm.”

Some 41% of respondents said they experienced offline attacks, abuse or harassment that they linked with online violence in the forms of physical or sexual assault, stalking, verbal harassment and “swatting,” a tactic to get authorities to respond to an address by making bogus claims of violence happening inside.

Women writers, influencers and social media content providers who focus on human rights are most often affected of such online violence, through the use of new tools like deepfake images or manipulated content, according to the study complied with partners like the European Commission.

Lead researcher Julie Posetti, speaking Tuesday to reporters in Geneva, said the tally of cases of real-world harm linked to online violence against women journalists has more than doubled over the past five years, with 42% of respondents in 2025 identifying “this dangerous and potentially deadly trajectory.”

Posetti also expressed concerns about “digital misogyny” and the “manosphere ” promoted by some high-profile online influencers, and personal attacks against some women journalists by government leaders including by U.S. President Donald Trump.

“This is part of what I refer to as a continuum of violence against women, or the enabling of violence against women in public life,” she said. “When a president or a prime minister or some senior official makes such egregious comments, it tends to stir up the mob online.”

“It’s not even a dog whistle, which is a kind of subtle way of triggering a mob reaction. It’s an overt attack,” Posetti added.

The authors call for stronger laws and better monitor to pinpoint violence against women linked to technology, more accountability for tech companies and increased efforts to amplify voices from men and others to speak out against such practices.

“Women who speak up for our human rights, report the news or lead social movements are being targeted with abuse designed to shame, silence and push them out of public debate,” UN Women policy director Sarah Hendricks said. “Increasingly, those attacks do not stop at the screen — they end at women’s front doors.”