New York City Council Member Tiffany Cabán Introduces a Resolution Supporting the REPAIR Act to Tax Columbia University and NYU to Fund CUNY

February 27, 2025

New York City

Today New York City Council Member Tiffany Cabán, along with Council Member Crystal Hudson, Council Member Linda Lee, Council Member Christopher Marte, and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, introduced a resolution to the New York City Council calling upon the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, legislation to authorize taxing the private properties owned by Columbia University and New York University, and using that revenue to fund the City University of New York, also known as the REPAIR Act (bills A2130/S1053 and A898/S1419). 

Council Member Tiffany Cabán released the following statement:  

“REPAIR stands for Repeal Egregious Property Accumulation and Invest It Right. 

Columbia and NYU are two of the largest private property owners in New York City (#1 and #8, respectively), yet due to their non-profit status, they evade paying over $300 million in property taxes each year. 

The goal of the REPAIR Act is to ensure NYU and Columbia pay their fair share of property taxes and for those taxes to be directed to fund CUNY, the city’s public higher education system which is educating over 240,000 working-class New Yorkers from all five boroughs. 

CUNY, which was once tuition-free, has been starved for funds for decades. Students suffer from broken buildings, cut classes, and overworked and underpaid professors.

As Trump’s Project 2025 seeks to abolish the Department of Education and defund higher education, it is high time that wealthy private universities with multi-billion dollar endowments pay their fair share of taxes and fund public education here in the greatest city in the world.” 

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