Our History
1995
We are founded as the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project (NEDAP) by attorney and economic justice advocate Sarah Ludwig.
NEDAP stands with community groups—Black churches, tenant organizations, credit unions, and limited equity co-ops—to challenge some of the largest banks in the country that were cutting off Black and brown neighborhoods from financial services.
1997
Working with the Red Hook Banking Committee, we help win Red Hook, Brooklyn’s first bank branch in decades.
1998
We testify before the Federal Reserve opposing the “too big to fail” merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group. The merger paves the way for the dismantling of the Glass-Steagall Act, eliminating firewalls between consumer and investment banking.
With members of the Central Brooklyn Federal Credit Union, we organize the Financial Freedom Campaign to support the fast-growing Black-owned credit union.
1999
NEDAP identifies and begins to fight the growing threats of reverse redlining and predatory subprime lending, well before the financial crisis hits.
We secure a federal HUD grant to launch a fair housing project, in partnership with grassroots and faith-based groups, alerting thousands of New Yorkers to predatory mortgage lending and connecting them with free legal assistance.
2000
We launch the statewide New Yorkers for Responsible Lending (NYRL) coalition—bringing together community, fair lending, and legal services groups to combat subprime lending and foreclosures stripping wealth from communities of color.
2001
We create the Community Financial Literacy & Justice curriculum, used by hundreds of organizations throughout the U.S., connecting know-your-rights education with community organizing.
2002
We receive the Union Square Award—given to “visionaries and risk takers who, motivated by a deep passion for human rights, address society’s most pressing social, political and economic concerns.”
2003
Under NEDAP’s leadership, New Yorkers for Responsible Lending coalition wins passage of one of the strongest anti-predatory lending laws in the country.
2004
We receive the Ford Foundation’s Leadership for a Changing World Award, and launch the NYC Immigrant Financial Justice Network to address barriers blocking immigrant New Yorkers from fair banking access.
2005
Our TV show, On the Money with NEDAP, begins airing in all 5 NYC boroughs, highlighting pressing financial justice issues and community groups organizing for change,
NEDAP’s TV show “On the Money” aired on Manhattan Neighborhood Network and cable access channels citywide.
2006
NEDAP’s NYC Financial Justice Hotline helps thousands of New Yorkers vindicate their rights against predatory lenders and debt collectors. The hotline fills a major gap in legal services and informs NEDAP’s policy advocacy and impact litigation.
2007
The financial meltdown hits, and NEDAP is on the frontlines—working with coalition partners to develop organizing and policy responses. Our staff brings New York groups to the table with state and federal policymakers to shape what eventually becomes the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
2008
We launch the NYC Foreclosure Prevention Loan Program, with partners at the Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union and FJC. Over five years, we help 400 low-income New Yorkers to stop foreclosure and stay in their homes—preserving more than $20 million in home equity. Both NYC and NYS replicate our loan fund.
2009
NEDAP wins the New York Times Company’s Management Excellence Award, in recognition of our communications and overall impact.
2010
We organize a huge community and labor protest outside JPMorgan Chase’s annual shareholder meeting—the last time Chase held its meeting in NYC. And we wage a campaign that secures millions of dollars improperly withheld from immigrant workers’ income tax refunds and credits.
2011
Our report “Foreclosures in New York: What’s Really Going On?” shows an estimated 345,000 homes at risk of foreclosure, challenging dominant narratives that the foreclosure crisis is waning.
2012
We launch a no-interest DACA loan fund, with Lower East Side People’s and Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Unions, that helps hundreds of immigrant New Yorkers secure work permits and protection from deportation.
2013
NEDAP rebrands itself as the New Economy Project, reorganizing our campaigns to focus on affirmative solutions to systemic inequality, while continuing to fight back against exploitative policies and corporations.
Eric Drooker, a New York native and award-winning artist whose work has been featured on dozens of New Yorker covers, designs our new logo.
2014
With Picture the Homeless and other allies, New Economy Project launches the NYC Community Land Initiative (NYCCLI)—an alliance that fosters the growth of 20+ community land trusts (CLTs) in New York City over the next decade.
2015
NYC enacts the strongest law in the country banning employment credit checks—the culmination of our tremendous campaign with labor, community, and civil rights groups.
We win a groundbreaking $59 million class action settlement on behalf of low-income New Yorkers harmed by a notorious debt collection ring that we charged with racketeering and other abuses. As part of the settlement, we secure the vacating of $800 million in default court judgments against New Yorkers.
2017
New Economy Project launches the NYS Community Equity Agenda coalition, building statewide power to advance community wealth-building. The coalition soon wins a historic $25 million in funding for the nation’s first state-level community development financial institutions (CDFI) fund.
2018
New Economy Project launches the Public Bank NYC coalition, bringing together labor, community, and environmental justice groups to demand that public money work for the public good.
2019
We wrap up a powerful two-year Community Land Trust (CLT) Learning Exchange for community groups working to establish CLTs, and secure groundbreaking funding for CLTs in New York City’s budget to support CLT organizing and technical assistance.
2020
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, New Economy Project wins a legal victory protecting emergency stimulus funds from debt collection.
2022
NYC’s Mayor and Comptroller announce an end to any public deposits with Wells Fargo, after our work demanding the city’s Banking Commission acknowledge and act on Wells Fargo’s track record of racial discrimination.
With NYCCLI allies, we launch the campaign for the Community Land Act, a package of bills to bring land and housing into permanently affordable community control.
2023
New Economy Project wins major legal victories addressing the NYC Transit Authority’s abusive debt collection practices, and upending a decade of bad case law enabling fraudulent and abusive wage garnishment and bank account freezes.
2024
Our New Economy Loan Fund deploys $1 million in low- and no-interest loans to worker-owned businesses, community land trusts, community solar, and other democratically controlled initiatives.
2025
We showcase the growth of NYC’s community land trust movement in a new interactive map featuring CLTs from across the five boroughs.
We celebrate 30 years of fighting for economic justice for all New Yorkers.
