Mamdani and Council name the people who will build NYC’s land bank

New York City has named the members of its planned land bank, a new public body meant to replace the tax lien sale and change how the city handles properties with heavy tax debts or buildings left to decay.

For decades the city sold those liens to a private debt collector. Under a plan from Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration and the City Council, the land bank would instead purchase tax and water liens, arrange payment plans so homeowners can stay put and assume control over certain buildings.

Who sits on the NYC land bank board

Mamdani chose Cea Weaver, director of the Office to Protect Tenants and his top housing adviser, as his designee, a City Hall spokesperson said. Weaver has long backed the land bank model and has helped steer sales of buildings facing bankruptcy or foreclosure, or putting tenants in danger, toward new owners. His second pick, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa Garcia, needed Council approval after a hearing earlier this month and was formally appointed Monday.

Two more seats are fixed by a law the Council passed in January. Dina Levy, the city’s housing commissioner, and Richard Lee, who leads the finance department, must each serve or send someone in their place. Councilmember Linda Lee, chair of the Council’s finance committee, is also on the seven-member board. The Council picked two housing veterans to round it out: Ted Houghton of the consulting firm Terra Linda Housing Services and Christie Peale, who runs the Center for NYC Neighborhoods as executive director.

City Hall spokesperson Matt Rauschenbach described the four city officials as “experienced leaders who will each bring a valuable perspective.” Peale said in a statement that homeowner advocates have pressed for a municipal land bank for close to 20 years.

Why the city is moving away from the tax lien sale

On the campaign trail, Mamdani promised to shift buildings away from negligent owners and into the hands of nonprofits and tenant organizations. Since then, his housing officials have searched for ways to route sales of run-down buildings to owners they consider more responsible.

The land bank effort also comes as the city tries to settle a 2019 lawsuit brought by homeowners who lost properties through an earlier tax debt program. Separately, the Council is proposing a program to transfer apartment buildings full of hazards to new owners.