text:
VIEWS: 1,819 PAGES: 42 CATEGORY: Politics & History POSTED ON: 7/27/2012 Public Domain
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK :îilt::Ì:Yt?Y ...........x THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, Plaintiff, SUMMONS -against- Index No. THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, Defendant. TO THE ABOVE.NAMED DEFENDANT: YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED and required to serve upon Plaintiffls attorney an answer to the complaint in this action within twenty days after the service of this summons, exclusive of the day of service, or within thirty days after service is complete if this summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York. In case of your failure to answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the complaint. Plaintifls designation of venue accords with CPLR 503(a). Dated: New York, New York Iuly 27,2012 MICHAEL A. CARDOZO Corporation of City of New York Attorney for the of the City of Ne wYork By sistant on Counsel 100 Church New York, New York 10007 212,788.1007 SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK ::ili::YYt?Y ...........x THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, Plaintiff, COMPLAINT -against- Index No. THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF.NEV/ YORK, Defendant. The Mayor of the City of New York, Michael R, Bloomberg, by Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, for his complaint against the Council of the City of New York, alleges as follows: Preliminary Statement l. This action challenges the validity of two local laws purportedly adopted by the New York City Council ("Council") over the Mayor's veto, Local Law 27 for the Year 2012 ("Prevailing Wage Law"), and Local Law 37, also for the Year 2012 ("Living Wage Law") (together, the "Local Laws"), which seek to require specified developers of real property who receive hnancial assistance from the City and specified lessors who lease offrce space to the City, as well as any contractors or subcontractors of those developers and lessors, to pay so- called "prevailing" andlor "living" wages, as defined by the respective Local Laws, to their employees who work on the premises. 2. The two Local Laws are similar in many respects, but they purport to apply to different groups of employees: only building service workers in the case of the Prevailing Wage Law and all employees other than building service workers and construction workers in the case of the Living Wage Law. 3. The Mayor vetoed these Local Laws because he believes them to be illegal and because he believes that they will harm the City's efforts to continue to attract and generate the business activity that is necessary to support the local economy and the services of New York City government. He also expressed his view that the Prevailing Wage Law would make the City a less desirable tenant, with detrimental effects especially in areas of the City where the City's tenancy might be most useful as a spur to economic development. 4. These Local Laws are invalid for two reasons: first, they are preempted by State and federal laws; and second, they unlawfully curtail executive powers vested in the Mayor by the New York City Charter ("Charter") and transfer mayoral powers to the Comptroller. Under the Charter and the Municipal Home Rule Law ("MHRL"), any changes in the allocation of powers among the branches and officials of City government are invalid unless approved by the voters in a referendum, and these Local Laws were not so approved. Preemption 5. Both Local Laws are inconsistent with, and preempted by, the State's minimum wage law, codified as Labor Law Art. 19, $$ 650 et seq., which, under governing Court of Appeals precedent, preempts all local wage regulation save for narrow exceptions that are inapplicable to these Local Laws. They are also in violation of MHRL $ ll(1)(Ð, which prohibits localities from adopting any local law superseding a State statute if that law "applies to or affects any provision of . . . the labor law." These Local Laws constitute an effort to impose a regulatory minimum wage upon sectors of the City econofry, a subject matter reserved to the State under applicable Court of Appeals precedent. 6. Second, both Local Laws are inconsistent with, and preempted by, the New York State Industrial Development Agency Act ("IDA Act"), codified as General Municipal 2 Law ("GML") Art. 18-4, $$ 850 et seq., and particularly by the State law creating the New York City Industrial Development Agency ("NYCIDA"), codified as GML $ 917, in that they seek to dictate the specific terms of projects sponsored by NYCIDA, which is a State-created entity, and interfere with NYCIDA's purpose, stated in the IDA Act, of fostering economic development. NYCIDA provides eligible businesses with exemptions from certain taxes and with favorable financing based on tax-exempt bonds. The IDA Act expressly supersedes all inconsistent local laws, and by its terms as well as impliedly, it occupies the field. These Local Laws impermissibly encroach on NYCIDA's freedom to exercise the powers conferred on it by the State Legislature to operate within its staû.rtorily designated area. 7. Third, the Council, in enacting the Prevailing V/age Law, is unlawfully setting the terms of affordable housing construction and rehabilitation projects sponsored by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development ("HPD") pursuant to State laws that grant the authority to set terms exclusively to HPD andlor to the Mayor. Therefore, the Prevailing Wage Law is inconsistent with, and preempted by, the State statutory scheme intended to foster the construction of such housing. That scheme comprises, inter alia, GML Art. 16 and Public Housing Finance Law ("PHFL") Articles 8-4, 11, 15, and22. Those State laws give the Council either no role or only minor roles that do not include setting business terms. Because the Prevailing Wage Law would raise the costs of construction and rehabilitation, and therefore reduce the amount of such housing that can be produced, and because through this Law the Council seeks to exceed its role as set forth in the State laws by dictating the specific terms of affordable housing projects sponsored under those State Laws, the Prevailing Wage Law is preempted, J 8. Fourth, the Local Laws provide that enforcement orders issued by the Mayor following findings of violations may be filed with one or more county clerks, and that such orders are to have the "full force and effect of a judgment duly docketed in the office of such clerk," so that they can be entered in the same manner as money judgments under the Civil Practice Law and Rules. These provisions are outside the constitutional home rule powers of the City Council, in that they relate to the courts and the filing of local decisions with county clerks, acting in relation to the court system. N.Y. Const., Art, IX, $3(aX2); MHRL $11(1)(e), For this reason, provisions of the City's Charter conferring the effect of court judgments upon specified administrative determinations have consistently been enacted by the State Legislature. See, e.g., Chapter 593 of the Laws of 1999, now codified as Charter $ 1049-a (expanding jurisdiction of the Environmental Control Board to landmarks-related violations to permit docketing of penalties relating to such violations); County Law $ 918 (specifying local entities for which docketing records are maintained by the county clerks). 9. Fifth, by specifying that employers must pay a specified amount toward employee health insurance or an equal amount in cash wages, the Living Wage Law favors health benefits over other employee benefits and requires employers to tailor their employee benefit plans to conform to New York City law. It is therefore preempted by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 C'ERISA"), 29 U.S.C. $$ 1001 et seq.; see 29 U.S.C. $ 11aa(a). Curtailment 10. In requiring that entities that receive City economic development assistance in the form of below-market prices for property or leases must pay specified wages, the Council's Local Laws seek to set the terms by which the City can sell or lease City property for 4 ecenomic development. In so doing, the Council violates provisions of the Charter that give the Mayor alone the power to set the terms for such dispositions, and unlawfully alters the balance that the Charter creates among the branches of City government. These Charter provisions are part of a statutory scheme, embodied both in the Charter and in State law, that gives the Mayor and his or her appointees the power and responsibility to set the business terms of economic development projects and to limit the Council's role to consideration of the land use impacts of such projects. See Charter $$ 28(a), 797-c, 197-d, and 384(b); Not-for-Proht Corporation Law ("NPCL") $ 1411. I l. Second, by in effect setting the terms of City leases with private landlords, the Prevailing Wage Law curtails the Mayor's power to lease ofhce space on behalf of the City. As with other real property acquisitions and dispositions, the only authority that the Charter gives to the Council with respect to the leasing of office space is in the area of land use, while the terms of the leases are established by mayoral appointees with mayoral approval. Charter $$ 824(a), 795,197-c. 12. Third, the Local Laws, enacted without a referendum, unlawfully curtail the Mayor's authority by transferring certain mayoral implementation and enforcement powers to the Comptroller. The Charter neither contemplates nor articulates any role for the Comptroller as an administrator or enforcer of these laws. Yet, in precisely the same manner as a prior law that was struck down by the courts, the Local Laws assign investigative duties to the Comptroller, who is then to refer violations to the Mayor for mandatory enforcement action. Admin. Code $$ 6-130(d)(4), 6-134(gXZ). The Local Laws also unlawfully curtail mayoral power in mandating that the Mayor and the Comptroller share the power to receive complaints 5 and conduct investigations based on such complaints. Id. gg 6-130(eX1), 6-130(e)(2), 6- I 3a(g)(6), 6- I 3a(gX8), 6- 134(gxe). 13. These Local Laws are specifically and narrowly targeted at certain recipients of City financial assistance and at building owners who do business with the City. They cannot, therefore, escape preemption on the grounds that they are laws of general applicability that only incidentally touch on City-subsidized economic development or City leasing; nor can they escape the mandatory referendum requirement on the grounds that they are legislative policymaking that only incidentally infringes on the Mayor's powers. Because these Local Laws dictate specific terms of City economic development projects and City leases, as well as for all of the other above-stated reasons, they are unlawful and invalid. The Mayor's Veto Messages 14. In vetoing these Local Laws, the Mayor stated that he believed them to be illegal for the reasons set forth in this Complaint, and he articulated the policy problems inherent in them: that they would "discourage companies from participating in any City programs that involve financial assistance," "threaten some of the City's most innovative and important economic development projects - the types that have stabilized and revitalized neighborhoods in all five boroughs," and "hamper our ability to build and preserve affordable housing." Mayor's Message on Vetoing Int. 251-A (Living V/age Bill), at p. I (May 30,2012); Mayor's Message on Vetoing Int. l8-A (Prevailing Wage Bill), at p. 1 (April 25,2012), 15. As the Mayor stated in his veto messages, the City's economic development programs are aimed at commercial, industrial, and residential projects that are on the margins, where targeted support induces developers to make investments that would otherwise be frnancially unfeasible. Often, the targeted developments are in low- and moderate-income communities or in economically challenged sectors of the economy. The City's support for these 6 projects often means the difference between jobs gained and jobs lost. While acknowledging that the Local Laws would result in higher wages for some workers, the Mayor stated his belief that these increases would come at the cost of job creation and a reduction in the opportunities open to entry-level workers. 16. The Mayor expressed his concern that: Some projects that would create jobs may not move forward at all because they are no longer financially viable without the benefit of these incentives. This is particularly troubling for industrial companies, which provide good-paying, high-quality jobs for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. This bill would make it more difficult for these businesses to stay here and expand at a time when the City should be focused on supporting them. For projects that still do move forward, if the value of these incentives is offset, the increased cost of the projects will be passed along to others - either to taxpayers, in the form of making higher subsidies necessary to incentivize these types of projects, or to the end-user - consumers who will be faced with higher prices for goods and services. Moreover, the penalties included in this legislation - such as recovering financial assistance for non-compliance would complicate potential lenders' ability to quantify the risks associated with a project, which in tum would make it more difficult for projects that are already financially challenging to access f,rnancing, or make financing more costly. This poses significant challenges for companies in planning for the future, and it could dissuade them from expanding and hiring in New York City. Mayor's Message on Vetoing Living V/age Bill, at p 2. 17. The Mayor observed that these Local Laws may have serious effects on the costs faced by not-for-profit organizations, which, although themselves exempted from paying the mandated higher wages, nonetheless "would bear the burdens of the additional costs imposed on the contractors, vendors and consultants performing work on their premises." Id. at p. 3. 7 18. In describing the bill, the Mayor noted that "[e]mployers would be required to maintain extensive records and to report on hours, wage and benefit information for all [affected] employees, involving onerous requirements and potential penalties that will additionally discourage companies from participating in any City programs that involve financial assistance." Id. atp. l. 19. The Mayor also deplored the effects of the Prevailing Wage Bill on the City's ability to lease offrce space: The bill would further require private owners to pay building service employees a prevailing wage when the City leases space. Having the City as a tenant can be an important tool for spuning economic development - especially outside Manhattan - but this bill would impose additional costs on these buildings, making the City a less attractive tenant. The cost of the bill would also fall on taxpayers by driving up rents for City-leased space in private buildings, because property owners will pass along the added staff costs mandated by this legislation in the form of higher rents. Mayor's Message on Vetoing Prevailing Wage Bill, at p. 2, 20. The Mayor concluded that these bills failed "to strike the appropriate balance between improving the employment opportunities of the City's workers and creating opportunities for innovative economic development programs," and that "[t]he passage of two similar bills in a short period of time raises serious concerns about the long-term ability of the City to continue attracting and generating the business activity that is necessary to support both the local economy and the services of local government." Mayor's Message on Vetoing Living Wage Bill at pp.3-4. The Parties 21. The plaintiff is the Mayor of the City of New York. The Mayor is "responsible for the effectiveness and integrity of city government operations," and, as the chief executive offrcer of the City, exercises all the powers vested in the City, except as otherwise 8 provided by law. Charter $$ 3, 8. The Mayor, directly and through his appointees, has broad powers, both generally with respect to implementation and enforcement of all local laws and specifically with respect to the fostering of economic development, the provision of affordable housing, and the leasing of space by the City as lessee. 22. The Council of the City of New York is the legislative body of the City. Id. $$ 2l et seq. The Local Laws 23. On March 28,2012, the Council passed the Prevailing Wage Law, Intro. 18- A (now Local Law 27), which the Mayor vetoed on April 25,2012. The Council purported to enact Local Law 27 (as a new Administrative Code $ 130) over the Mayor's veto on May 15, 2012. On April 30, 2012 , the Council passed the Living Wage Law, Intro . 251-A (now Local Law 37), which the Mayor vetoed on May 30,2012. The Council purported to enact Local Law 37 (as a ne\¡il Administrative Code $ 6-134 as well as a Charter amendment containing related reporting requirements) over the Mayor's veto on June 28,2012. 24. The two Local Laws are broadly similar in many respects. Both provide for the payment of wages higher than the State-statutorily prescribed minimum wage to employees of subject entities that receive financial assistance of over one million dollars from the City or a "City economic development entity" (as defined in the Local Laws) and do not fall within excepted categories, and to successors, contractors, and subcontractors of such entities. They have similar, if not identical, investigation and enforcement provisions. However, the Local Laws differ in that they apply to different employees: the Prevailing Wage Law applies only to building service employees of covered employers, whereas the Living Wage Law applies to all employees of covered employers other than building service employees and employees of construction contractors. They also differ in that the Pievailing Wage Law applies not only to I employees of recipients of City financial assistance, but also to employees of private building owners and their contractors or subcontractors who work in privately-owned buildings in which more than half, or, in certain areas of the City, more than 80 percent, of the square footage is rented to the City for office space. As a practical matter, too, the Prevailing Wage Law would apply to the employees of developers of residential housing who meet the statutory criteria, whereas the Living Wage Law would rarely apply to such employees, because developers of residential properties are unlikely to have any employees or subcontractors on the assisted premises other than building service workers. A. The Living Wage Law 25. The Council named the Living V/age Law the "Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act." N.Y,C, Admin. Code $ 6-134(a), It requires all "covered employers," other than those exempted under $ 6-134(d), to pay no less than a "living wage" to their employees. $6-134(cX1). "Covered employers" include "financial assistance recipients," tenants, or subtenants in assisted properties that are owned by financial assistance recipients, recipients' concessionaires at assisted sports facilities, and entities that contract with recipients to work for more than 90 days on the premises of assisted properties. $ 6- 134(bxa)(a)-(d). Any assignee or successor in interest of real property improved or developed with financial assistance is also a "covered employer." $ 6-134(bX8). The law applies to all employees of covered employers in the City, except that where financial assistance is targeted at particular properties, it applies only to employees who work on the assisted premises. $ 6-134(bX5). The requirements of the law extend for the longer of either the term of the financial assistance or ten years - potentially, long after the role of the City and of the original recipient of City frnancial assistance has ended. $ 6-l3a(c)(3). 10 26. The Living Wage Law does not apply uniformly to all recipients of financial assistance from the City. Many employers are exempted. Section 6-134(d), titled "Exemptions," exempts the following seven categories of employers from all its requirements save for the reporting requirements of $ 6-13a(Ð(2): (l) small businesses; (2) not-for-profit entities; (3) manufacturing; (4) certain affordable housing projects; (5) "grocery stores participating in the Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) program"; (6) building services contractors and construction contractors; and (7) a highly pafücularized exception: Any . flnancial assistance recipient who executed a project agreement and any entity with which such financial assistance recipient contracts or subcontracts, occupying or operating on the premises of property improved or developed within the geographical delineations described in the definition of 'Zone 3 Adjacent Developments,' without regard to whether or not the applicable project is deemed to be a 'Hudson Yards Commercial Construction Project,' as such terms are dehned in the first amendment to the Third Amended and Restated Uniform Tax Exemption Policy of the New York City Industrial Development Agency, as approved by the board of directors of the city industrial development agency on November 9, 2010, provided, however, that such exemption shall not extend to any such covered employer who receives financial assistance through the purchase of a condominium in the event that the city or city economic development entity grants such covered employer additional financial subsidies in addition to the financial assistance originally granted pursuant to such project agreement thereafter assigned or otherwise made available to such purchaser following such purchase, 27. The Law defines "living wage" as compensation of $10 per hour, plus $1.50 in "supplemental health benefits" that may be provided in the form of cash wages, health benef,rts, or any combination of the two. $ 6-134(bX9). The wage rate is adjusted annually based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, .1d. The supplemental health benefits amount is adjusted based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for Medical Care. Id. l1 28. "Financial assistance" encompasses all assistance "for the improvement or development of real property, economic development, job retention and growth, or other similar purposes" that is "paid in whole or in part by the city" and that has a total present value of one million dollars or more. $ 6-134(bX7). 29. "Financial assistance" is defined very broadly: Financial assistance includes, but is not limited to, cash payments or grants, bond financing, tax abatements or exemptions (including, but not limited to, abatements or exemptions from real property, mortgage recording, sales and use taxes, or the difference between any payments in lieu of taxes and the amount of real property or other taxes that would have been due if the property were not exempted from the payment of such taxes), tax increment financing, filing fee waivers, energy cost reductions, environmental remediation costs, write-downs in the market value of building, land, or leases, or the cost of capital improvements undertaken for the benefit of a project subject to a project agreement. Id. 30. "Financial assistance" includes both direct assistance from the City and assistance provided through a "city economic development entity," defined as "a local development corporation, not-for-profit corporation, public beneht corporation, or other entity that provides or administers economic development benefits and with which the department of small business services serves as a liaison pursuant to paragraph b of subdivision one of section 1301 of the New York city charter." $ 6-134(b)(2) and (bX7). This includes assistance provided through the New York City Economic Development Corporation ("NYCEDC"). The definition of "financial assistance" suggests that it is intended to encompass entities such as NYCIDA, even though NYCIDA is a State-created public benefit corporation that has little or nothing to do with the Department of Small Business Services. However, the def,rnition of "financial l2 assistance" explicitly excludes non-discretionary assistance, i.e., assistance given to all persons who meet certain criteria. Id. 31, The obligations of the Living Wage Law fall in the first instance on covered employers. They are required to pay the living wage, $ 6-13a(c)(1). Beyond that requirement, they are also required to post and distribute to all employees a notice to be prepared by the Comptroller and distributed by the City setting forth the rights of employees under the Law. $ 6- 134(e)(l). They must maintain payroll records for six years, $ 6-13a(eX2), notify other covered employers operating on the premises of their obligations, $ 6-134(Ð(1), certify annually that they are in compliance with the Law, id., and provide contact information concerning all other covered employers, id. Covered employers are also prohibited from retaliating against any employee who takes any action to enforce rights under the Law. $ 6-l3a(e)(3). 32. The Law does not apply to f,rnancial assistance provided prior to its enactment, or to projects agreed to prior to enactment, but extension, renewal, or amendment of projects agreements that results in additional assistance being awarded will make the Law applicable. $ 6-134(iXl). 33. The Living Wage Law assigns monitoring and investigative responsibility to the Comptroller or, in some provisions, to both the Comptroller and the Mayor. $ 6-13a(g), At the start of the investigation, the Comptroller may request that the City or City economic development entity providing the assistance withhold such assistance. $ 6-13a(gXl). Complaints may be filed either with the Comptroller or the Mayor, and either may investigate. $ 6-l3a(g)(6), (gX8), and (g)(9). The Comptroller is required to report the results of any investigation to the Mayor or his or her designee. 13 34. In response to the Comptroller's referral, the Mayor "shall where appropriate issue an order, determination, or other disposition." $ 6-13a(g)(2). The Mayor may either negotiate a settlement or refer the matter to the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings for a hearing and disposition. $ 6-13a(g)(a). 35. The Living V/age Law provides for penalties for non-compliance, including back pay with interest at no less than 60/o, a civil penalty of up to 200Yo of the amount found to be due, and, when a final disposition has been entered in two instances within any six-year period, ineligibility for further financial assistance, $ 6-l3a(gx2). The Mayor's order may be docketed with the County Clerk and "shall have the full force and effect of a judgment duly docketed in the office of such clerk," $ 6-13a(g)(5), although there is no State authorization for this. "Upon determining that a covered employer is not in compliance, and where no cure is effected," the City or City economic development entity may impose sanctions or recover any hnancial assistance previously provided. g 6-l3a(gx7). 36. The Law also creates a private right of action for damages, punitive damages, and injunctive relief, to any person aggrieved. $ 6-13a(gX8) - (g)(12). 37. Finally, the Living Wage Law contains a provision that urges the City and City economic development entities to prefer proposals of parties who commit to payment of a living wage, and to "strive to achieve a living wage for 75Yo or more of the hourly jobs created overall." $ 6-134(hxl). It further requires the City and City Economic Development Entities to submit a report for each economic development agreement they enter into, indicating "whether its agreement with the economic development subsidy recipient mandated the payment of a living wage for any jobs created by the project." $ 6-134(hX2). The report must state how many such jobs will be created "beyond those jobs for which a living wage is required pursuant to this 14 section and a description of the applicable penalties if the wage requirement in the agreement is not ultimately fulfilled. If the agreement does not include such a mandate, the city or city economic development entity shall explain why such an agreement could not be reached." Id. The City must also submit to the Council an annual report on the numbers of living wage jobs and below-living wage jobs created in connection with projects receiving City f,rnancial assistance. $ 6-134(hX3). B. The Prevailing Wage Law 38. In contrast to the Living Wage Law - which excludes building service workers, see $ 6-134(dX6) - the Prevailing V/age Law, N.Y.C. Admin. Code $ 6-130, covers only such workers. While very similar to the Living V/age Law in most other respects, the Prevailing Wage Law also differs from the Living V/age Law in that it extends to additional categories of employers. As indicated by its title - "Prevailing Wage for Building Service Employees in City Leased or Financially Assisted Facilities" - the Law applies to building service workers who work in buildings owned by f,rnancial assistance recipients and in buildings in which the City leases more than specified percentages of space, Thus, unlike the Living Wage Law, the Prevailing V/age Law will frequently extend to developers of financially assisted residential housing, as well as owners of commercial office buildings, and their respective contractors and subcontractors. 39. In enacting the Prevailing Wage Law, the Council made a declaration of legislative f,rndings and intent, finding that: [T]he City, as a promoter of economic development, commits significant resources . . . for development projects across the city. Further, as a tenant, the City spends millions of tax dollars each year leasing space for City agencies from private landlords. Building service work has traditionally been a gateway to the middle class for New York City residents . The Council is concerned, however, that in some cases, those who benefit from l5 city leases or economic development incentives do not ensure that the building service employees they employ or utilize receive the prevailing wage. This failure has the potential to destabilize neighborhoods and to undermine the City's middle class tax base. The intention of the Council in enacting this section is to ensure that funding provided, in whole or part, by the City is not used to this effect. Local Law27 of2012, g l. 40. The Prevailing Wage Law requires "covered lessors" and "covered developers" to pay prevailing wages. $ 6-130(b)(1) and (cXl). "Covered lessors" are non- governmental entities or persons who lease 10,000 square feet or more of offrce space to a "contracting agency," defined as any public entity "the expenses of which are paid in whole or in part from the city treasury." $ 6-130(aX7), (9), and (l l). Under the Law's definition of "lease," the prevailing wage requirement applies only to buildings in which the City occupies at least 5l percent of the square footage if located in Manhattan and certain portions of the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn, and in which the City occupies at least 80 percent if located in other portions of the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn, or anywhere in Staten Island. $ 6-130(a)(11) (cross- referencing Real Property Tax Law $ 421-a). 41. In addition to lessors, thJ prevailing wage requirement applies to "covered developers," deltned as persons "receiving financial assistance in relation to a city development project, or any assignee or successor in interest of real property that qualifies as a city development project." $ 6-130(a)(8), "Financial assistance" is defined in terms substantially identical to those of the Living Wage Law. $ 6-130(a)(10). It includes assistance provided both directly by the City and through a"city economic development entity," defined the same way as in the Living V/age Law. g 6-130(aX5). 42. "City development project" is defined as "a project undertaken by a eity agency or a city economic development entity for the purpose of improvement or development of l6 real property, economic development, job retention or growth, or other similar purposes where the project: (a) is expected to be larger than 100,000 square feet, or, in the case of a residential project, largerthan 100 units; and (b) has received or is expected to receive financial assistance." $ 6-130(aXa). 43. The Prevailing Wage Law's definitions of "city development project" and "covered developer" provide for a number of exemptions that are incorporated into the definitions of "city development project" and "covered developer." These exemptions partially overlap those of the Living V/age Law. The defrnition of "city development project" excludes (1) projects of 100,000 square feet or less, oÍ, if residential, 100 units or less; (2) affordable housing projects, defined, however, more narrowly than in the Living Wage Law; and (3) projects of the Health and Hospitals Corporation. $ 6-130(aX4). The definition of "covered developer" in the Prevailing V/age Law adds exclusions for (4) not for profit organizations; (5) business improvement districts; and (6) manufacturing employers. $ 6-130(a)(8). 44. Like the Living V/age Law, the Prevailing Wage Law does not apply to existing City development projects or leases. $ 6-130(Ð and (g). 45. The Law defines "prevailing wage" as the rate of wage and supplemental benefits paid to building service workers in the locality as determined annually "by the comptroller in accordance with the provisions of section 234 of the New York state labor law." $ 6-130(a)(13). This is a reference to the fact that, pursuant to Article 9 of the Labor Law, $$ 230 et seq., the Comptroller already determines annually the prevailing wage for building services workers employed by entities that contract directly with the City. The Prevailing V/age Law extends that wage guarantee to building service workers who are only indirectly linked to t7 the City, in that they are employed either by recipients of City financial assistance or in privately owned buildings in which the City leases specified amounts of space. 46, The implementation and enforcement provisions of the Prevailing Wage Law are similar to those of the Living Wage Law. Covered lessors and developers are required to certify annually their compliance with the law. $ 6-130(bX2) and (cX2). They are required to post notices prepared by the Comptroller, $ 6-130(bX4) and (c)(4), and to keep records, and, in the case of lessors, to submit certihed copies of those records with each request for payment, $ 6- 130(bX3) and (cX3). The Law applies for the term of the lease or, in the case of financial assistance, for the longer of the term of the financial assistance or ten years from the date the assisted project opens. $ 6-130(bX6) and (cX6). The City is to maintain current lists of covered lessors and developers. $ 6-130(bX7) and (cX7). It also has rulemaking responsibilities: "No later than October 1,2012, the mayor or his or her designee shall promulgate implementing rules and regulations as appropriate and consistent with this section and may delegate such authority to the comptroller." $ 6-130(dxl). The Comptroller is to submit annual reports on the Law to the Mayor and the Council. 1d. 47. As also provided by the Living V/age Law, covered lessors or developers may not discriminate or retaliate against any employee. $ 6-130(d)(2). The Comptroller is to monitor and investigate alleged violations, and may request that the contracting agency or entity withhold payments to covered lessors or developers. $ 6-130(dX3). As with the Living Wage Law, complaints may be filed either with the Mayor or with the Comptroller, and investigations may be undertaken by either. $$ 6-130(dX8),6-130(eX1) and (e)(2). Here too, the Comptroller is empowered to report the results of investigations to the Mayor or his or her designee, "who l8 shall . . after providing the covered lessor or covered developer an opportunity to cure any violations, where appropriate issue an order, determination, or other disposition." $ 6-130(dX4). 48. The monetary penalties provided by the Law are similar to those of the Living Wage Law, except that the maximum civil penalty is lower: 25 percent or 50 percent of the total amount due, rather than 200 percent. Id. Like the Living Wage Law, and also without State authorization, the Prevailing Wage Law provides that the Mayor's order may be docketed with the County Clerk and "shall have the full force and effect of a judgment." $ 6-130(dX7). The Prevailing Wage Law also creates a private right of action similar to that of the Living Wage Law, $ 6-130(e). The Effects of the Local Laws 49. The Local Laws would have significant, adverse effects on important programmatic and administrative functions of City, City-related, and State-created entities, As described below, these include economic development projects administered by NYCEDC and NYCIDA, affordable housing development projects supported by HPD, and the City's leasing of space from private landlords, A. Effects on NYCEDC's Economic Development Projects 50. NYCEDC is a local development corporation whose goals include creating jobs, generating revenue for the City, and diversifying the City's economy, and particularly its industrial sector, including warehousing and distribution. See NPCL $ 1411(a) (stating purposes of local development corporations). In furtherance of these goals, NYCEDC acquires land from the City and then disposes of it by sale or lease to industrial companies, frequently at less than fair market value.l ' NYCBDC is in the process of restructuring. As part of the restructuring, two separate entities have been formed. Once the restructuring is complete, one entity, a local development l9 51. NYCEDC's industrial offerings are often for vacant land where the City seeks to encourage the construction of new industrial and manufacturing facilities. Because the economics of such ventures are challenging, the projects that NYCEDC pursues frequently require subsidized rents or sale prices in order to be successful. 52. The Local Laws exempt manufacturing projects but not those involving other industrial uses such as warehousing and distribution. Warehousing and distribution often employ significant numbers of entry-level employees. For this reason, the retention and expansion of these facilities would be especially affected by these Laws. 53. The Local Laws would hinder NYCEDC's efforts to foster industry and, consequently, job creation in the City. The wage requirements of the Laws would increase the cost of any project subject to them, making even more difficult the economic circumstances that already render many projects unfeasible without govemment assistance. Some projects may not be viable. Others will only be feasible with increased assistance from NYCEDC in the form of lower sale prices for property, in turn reducing the resources NYCEDC has to pursue other economic development projects and reducing any proceeds to the City receives from the sale of the property. B. Effects on NYCIDA's Economic Development Projects 54. NYCIDA is a State-created public authority, created by GML $ 917 pursuant to the IDA Act, GML Art. 18-4, which authorizes the creation of local industrial development corporation, will continue to acquire property directly from the City. The other will be a not-for- profit corporation into which NYCEDC will be merged. The local development corporation will acquire property from the City and will sell the property to the not-for-profit corporation, which will be authorized to dispose of the property in accordance with requirements contained in a Mayoral approval of the sale of City property. This restructuring will not change the impact of the Local Laws on the City's economic development programs. 20 authorities throughout the State. Consistent with its statutory purpose, NYCIDA's mission is to encourage economic development throughout the five boroughs and to assist in both the retention of existing jobs and the creation and attraction of new ones. 55. To carry out its mission, NYCIDA is legally empowered to provide avarieTy of financial benehts including (i) tax-exempt bond financing; (ii) sales and use tax exemptions; (iii) mortgage recording tax exemptions; and (iv) real estate tax exemptions. 56. Pursuant to the U. S. Internal Revenue Code, interest paid on certain bonds issued by NYCIDA is exempt from federal taxation. In addition, pursuant to GML $ 874, interest paid on bonds issued by NYCIDA is exempt from state and local income taxation, Because of the exemptions from taxation, purchasers of the bonds are willing to accept a lower rate of interest than they would if the interest paid on the bonds were taxable, The proceeds of these bonds are paid to private parties to use for acquisition and/or construction of facilities, and the private parties in turn pay NYCIDA the amounts NYCIDA needs to pay the principal and the lower cost interest on the bonds. The result is that companies can borrow at lower cost than if they had to issue taxable bonds, 57. NYCIDA also has the authority to exempt eligible projects from various taxes and to collect payments in lieu of taxes (known as "PILOTs") that are equal to or less than the amounts of the taxes that would otherwise be applicable. NYCIDA can exempt sales tax on purchases of machinery, equipment, and construction materials and can replace real estate taxes with a stable level of PILOTs over a long period, thus helping reduce a company's operating costs. NYCIDA can also help reduce closing costs by exempting a company from the payment of all or part of the mortgage recording tax or defening the payment obligation. It may require a company to pay PILOTs that are less than the full tax amount. By exercising these powers, 2l NYCIDA can help companies overcome the high tax environment of the City and New York State, which presents one of the major challenges these companies face in expanding their presence in the City. 58, For the 13 projects that closed in Fiscal 2012, NYCIDA agreed to provide financial assistance totaling $56,531,592, At the time of their respective project closings, the recipients of the assistance employed 792 peopla With the assistance furnished by NYCIDA, they are expected to create 750 additional jobs. In addition to these closings, NYCIDA's board of directors has approved "inducement resolutions" for 14 other projects, acknowledging that the provision of financial assistance would be appropriate and that without the provision of such assistance the projects would (i) not move forward, or (ii) would only move forward on a significantly smaller scale, or (iii) would take place outside of New York State. These projects continue to move forward in Fiscal 2013. For these 14 "induced" projects, NYCIDA is planning to provide financial assistance totaling $181,392,459 to companies employing a total of over 3,248 people. 'With the assistance furnished by NYCIDA, these companies are expected to create over 3,672 additional jobs. 59. NYCIDA supports projects that it believes would not occur, or would be significantly smaller or delayed, but for the benefits it provides. The wage requirements in the Local Laws will create a direct impediment to NYCIDA's efforts to promote job growth by increasing the cost of development projects and therefore reducing the effectiveness of the tax benefits offered by NYCIDA. In order to induce any given project, NYCIDA will be forced to offer greater benefits than it would have absent the wage requirements. As a result of the Local Laws, NYCIDA will be able to pursue fewer projects, or projects of lesser scale. 22 C. Effects on HPD's Affordable Housing Programs 60. The Prevailing 'Wage Law would adversely impact the development and rehabilitation of affordable housing under programs administered by HPD. Although some affordable housing projects would be exempted from the Law's prevailing wage requirement, others, comprising thousands of units of affordable housing, would not. The wage requirement increases the operating costs for any development project to which it applies and thus undermines the purpose of programs created by State law that are intended to maximize the creation of affordable housing through private investment. 6L These State statutes, including GML Article 16 and PHFL Articles 8-a, 11, 15, and 22,vest administrative authority over the programs, and in particular the setting of the business terms of urban development projects, in HPD, and provide for only a limited role by the Council. D. Effects on City Leasing from Private Landlords 62. In requiring that certain lessors of office space to the City, and their contractors, pay a prevailing wage to the building service employees who work in certain buildings in which the City is a tenant, the Prevailing V/age Law will have a significant impact both on the City's ability to lease offrce space and its costs in so doing. 63. The Charter empowers the Commissioner of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services ("DCAS") to lease private property for City use, subject to various approvals as detailed below. Charter $ 82a(a). The City currently has at least 58 leases, for a total of 7.3 million square feet - well over half of the total of 12.6 million square feet of offlrce space leased by the City - in buildings that would be subject to the Prevailing Wage Law, On information and belief, upon renewal of these existing leases, the Prevailing 'Wage Law will ¿J require wage increases for building service workers at no fewer than 42, and as many as 52, of the 58 leased properties, covering a total of up to 6.1 million square feet. 64. Where wages must be increased to comply with the Prevailing Wage Law, landlords' building maintenance costs will increase. In these cases, the landlords may refuse to lease to the City or to renew the City's leases. The leases affected are mostly in areas outside of Manhattan where it is already diffrcult to f,rnd space for City agencies. Alternatively, they may pass the increased costs on to the City in the form of higher rents, in turn increasing the cost of the City's leases, which are paid for by taxpayer dollars. Landlords may also pass some of the cost on to tenants other than the City, driving up rents for private enterprises because they happen to lease space in a building where the City is also a tenant. FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION (Preemption by the State Minimum Wage Law) 65. As and for a first cause of action, plaintiff repeats and realleges the above allegations with the same force and effect as if fully set forth in this paragraph. 66. Under directly applicable Court of Appeals precedent, the New York State Minimum Wage Law, codified as Labor Law Art. 19, $$ 650 et seq., occupies the f,reld of wage regulation. Wholesale Laundry Board of Trade, Inc. v. City of New York, 17 A.D. 2d 327 (lst Dept. 1962), aff'd on op. below,12 N.Y.2d 998 (1963) (Wholesale Laundry.f (invalidating City law that sought to set minimum wages for all employees in the City); Wholesale Laundry Board of Trade, Inc. v. City of New York,43 Misc. 2d 816 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co. 1964), aff'd,22 A.D.2d 762 (lstDept. 1964), a,ff'd, l5 N.Y.2d 604 (1964) (Wholesale Laundry 1,1) (same). Therefore, local laws regulating wages are preempted unless they fit within some exception to preemption. 67. In McMillen v. Browne, 14 N,Y.2d 326 (1964), the Court of Appeals carved out two narrow exceptions to preemption, neither of which are applicable here. First, the Court 24 held that a local law that applied only to City contractors and subcontractors who furnished "supplies, material or equipment . . . or . . . work, labor or services" to the City was not subject to preemption if the City was acting in its proprietary capacity. This exception has been greatly narrowed by subsequent Court of Appeals decisions. 68. Under current law, a state or municipality, even when acting as a purchaser of goods, labor, or services, is not acting in a proprietary capacity, and is therefore subject to preemption, when it uses its power as a purchaser to advance policy goals. The Local Laws are preempted because they are explicitly intended to assist in the maintenance or creation of middle class jobs in the City. This is a regulatory and a policy goal, not a proprietary one. 69. McMillen's second exception to preemption was based on home rule provisions in the State constitution and Municipal Home Rule Law that specifically permit localities to regulate wages of their contractors and subcontractors so long as such regulations are not inconsistent with State law. N.Y. Const. Art. IX, $ 2(c); MHRL $ 10(lXiixa)(l0). These provisions apply only to City contractors and subcontractors who perform "work, labor or services" for the locality, i.e., to procurement contractors and subcontractors, and not to the persons or entities to which these Local Laws apply, Moreover, more recent cases regarding procurement contracts have held that local laws that impose policy-related conditions on procurement contracts are, in fact, inconsistent with State law, and therefore invalid, if those conditions elevate costs and reduce competition. 70. The Local Laws seek to leverage certain development programs and offlice space leases in order to impose a minimum wage upon portions of the private sector that is higher than the State-specified minimum wage. Their purpose, means, and intended effect all infringe upon the subject matter and substance of Article 19 of the Labor Law. Further, the 25 Local laws do not fit within any exception to preemption, Therefore, they are preempted by the New York State Minimum'Wage Law. 71. It would be unlawful for the Mayor or mayoral appointees to seek to enforce the Local Laws against employers purportedly covered by the Local Laws. SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION (Violation of Municipal Home Rule Law gg 11(1Xf)) and 22(2)) 72. As and for a second cause of action, plaintiff repeats and realleges the above allegations with the same force and effect as if fully set forth in this paragraph. 73. Municipal Home Rule Law $ ll, entitled "Restrictions on the adoption of local laws," provides, in relevant part: 1. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, the legislative body shall not be deemed authorized by this chapter to adopt a local law which supersedes a state statute, if such local law: **** f. Applies to or affects any provision of . . . the labor law. MHRL $11(1). 74. Because the Local Laws "apply to or affect" the New York State Minimum V/age Law, Labor Law $$ 650 et seq., they are unauthorized and invalid. 75. Similarly, Municipal Home Rule Law ç 22(2) provides that, "No local law shall supersede any provision of a state statute except as authorized by the constitution, this chapter or any other state statute." Because the Local Laws are not authorizedto supersede the State Minimum Wage Law, they are invalid. 76. It would be unlawful for the Mayor or mayoral appointees to seek to enforce the Local Laws against employers purportedly covered by the Local Laws. 26 THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION (Preemption by the State IDA Law) 77. As and for a third cause of action, plaintiff repeats and realleges the above allegations with the same force and effect as if fully set forth in this paragraph. 78. The Local Laws are also preempted insofar as they seek to regulate the activities of NYCIDA, a public benefit corporation established under the New York State IDA Act, GML $$ 850 et seq., and specifically by GML $ 917, 79. As the New York State Attomey General has opined, "only the State Legislature [is] empowered to legislate regarding the powers and functions" of an Industrial Development Agency. 1976 N.Y. Op. (Inf.) Att'y Gen.250, 1976 N.Y. AG LEXIS 148,*5 (Aug. 3I,1976). A county's IDA "is not a part of the county govemment; the IDA's powers are derived directly from the State, not from or through the county. The county's relationship with the . . . County IDA is determined not by home rule but by the Legislature." 1981 N.Y. Op. (Inf,) Att'y Gen.272, 1981 N,Y. AG LEXIS 27, *3 (Oct. 19, 1981). 80. In enacting the IDA Act and the statute creating NYCIDA, the Legislature expressly occupied the field. GML $ 888. This provision is virtually identical to a provision in another State law previously found to be preemptive, New York City HHC v. Council of the City of New York,303 A.D.2d 69,77 (1st Dept. 2003). 81. The comprehensive provisions of GML Article 18-4, $$ 850 et seq., and $ 917 (creating NYCIDA) also evidence the Legislature's intent to occupy the field. The purpose of an IDA is: to promote, develop, encourage and assist in the acquiring, constructing, reconstructing, improving, maintaining, equipping and furnishing industrial, manufacturing, warehousing, commercial, research and recreation facilities , and thereby advance the job opportunities, health, general prosperity and economic welfare of the people of the state of New York and to 27 improve their recreation opportunities, prosperity and standard of living. GML $ 858. 82. To accomplish these ends, the Legislature granted IDAs, including NYCIDA, particular powers, including but not limited to the following: (a) To acquire by purchase, grant, lease, gift, pursuant to the provisions of the eminent domain procedure law, or otherwise and to use, real property or rights or easements therein necessary for its corporate purposes in compliance with the local zoning and planning regulations , and to sell, convey, mortgage, lease, pledge, exchange or otherwise dispose of any such property in such manner as the agency shall determine. *¡F{<rl( (9) To make contracts and leases, and to execute all instruments necessary or convenient to or with any person, firm, partnership or corporation, either public or private; provided, however, that any extension of an existing contract, lease or other agreement entered into by an agency with respect to a project shall be guided by the provisions of this article; (10) To acquire, construct, reconstruct, lease, improve, maintain, equip or furnish one or more projects; (l l) To accept gifts, grants, loans, or contributions from, andenter into contracts or other transactions with, the United States and the state or any agency of either of them, any municipality, any public or private corporation or any other legal entity, and to use any such t gifts, grants, loans or contributions for any of its corporate purposes; (12) To borrow money and to issue bonds and to provide for the rights of the holders thereof; (13)To grant options to renew any lease with respect to any project or projects and to grant options to buy any project at such price as the agency may deem desirable; d( r! tl. * (17) To do all things necessary or convenient to carry out its purposes and exercise the powers expressly given in this title. GML $ 8s8 28 83. The Local Laws dictate wage terms to recipients of financial assistance from NYCIDA who meet the criteria set forth in those Laws. In so doing, they specifically target NYCIDA, along with NYCEDC, mandating an important condition for providing assistance to NYCIDA projects, and thus interfering with NYCIDA in the exercise of the above core powers conferred upon it by the State Legislature. 84. Because the Local Laws are in conflict with, and inconsistent with, State law, they are preempted. 85. It would be unlawful for the Mayor or mayoral appointees to seek to enforce the Local Laws against employers purportedly covered by the Local Laws by virtue of receiving NYCIDA assistance. FOURTH CAUSE OF'ACTION (Municipal Home Rule Law S 10(5)) 86. As and for a fourth cause of action, plaintiff repeats and realleges the above allegations with the same force and effect as if fully set forth in this paragraph. 87. Municipal Home Rule Law $ 10(5) provides that"a local government shall not have power to adopt local laws which impair the powers of any other public corporation." 88. The General Construction Law defines "public corporation" to include public benefit corporations. GCL $ 66(1). 89. Pursuant to the IDA Act, all local IDAs, of which NYCIDA is one, are public benefit corporations. GML $ 856(2). 90. As alleged above, the Local Laws, which specifically target NYCIDA and dictate to it an important term of its projects, interfere with NYCIDA in the exercise of core powers conferred upon it by the State Legislature. They therefore violate Municipal Home Rule Law $ 10(5), and it would be unlawful for the Mayor or mayoral appointees to seek to enforce 29 the Local Laws against entities purportedly covered by the Local Laws by virtue of receiving NYCIDA assistance. F'IFTH CAUSE OF ACTION (Preemption of the Prevailing Wage Law by State Affordable Housing Statutes) 91. As and for a fifth cause of action, plaintiff repeats and realleges the above allegations with the same force and effect as if fully set forth in this paragraph. 92, The Prevailing Wage Law is preempted by the statutory scheme of the General Municipal Law and Private Housing Finance Law, which authorizes the City to provide financial assistance to private developers and others for the construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing. This assistance can take the form, first, of real property sales for less than market value, without public auction or sealed bids pursuant to GML Article 16 or PHFL Article 11, and second, of loans to finance construction and building rehabilitation in urban areas pursuant to PHFL Articles 8-a, 15, and22. 93. Each of these statutes empowers HPD to administer the incentive programs and, conversely, strictly limits or altogether precludes involvement by the Council. In this manner, the statutes neither contemplate nor countenance intrusion by the Council in the form of a blanket wage requirement that inhibits the efficacy of the statutory incentive programs. 94. GML Article 16, for example, authorizes HPD, subject to the Mayor's approval, to sell property without public auction or sealed bids to a sponsor as designated by HPD. GML $ 695(2Xb). The Council's role is limited to giving approval to the overall project in the first instance, id. $ 694(3), after which the property disposition itself is left to the discretion of HPD and the Mayor. Likewise, in authorizing municipalities to make loans to support urban development projects, GML Article 16 and PHFL Articles 11, 15, and22 vest administrative authority - and in particular, the power the set the business terms of the projects - 30 almost entirely within HPD rather than the Council. GML $$ 696(a), 696(d); PHFL $$ 576(c), 802,7152. Where the Council is authorized to play some role in connection with the terms of an assistance project, as with PHFL Article 8-a loans, that role is limited to setting terms necessary to secure repayment of the loan, and the statute does not contemplate the insertion of conditions extraneous to repayment. PHFL ç 452(2). 95. In creating the statutory schemes for these assistance programs, the Legislature assigned particular roles to the Mayor, HPD, and the Council. Where it wanted to give the Council some limited role, it did so. Where the Council is given no role, it may not interfere with the administration of these State-authorized programs. By subjecting developers and others who receive assistance under these statutes to the prevailing wage requirement, the Council dictates the terms of the assistance. This intrusion by the Council is inconsistent with the statutes' administrative frameworks, which expressly give the Mayor and HPD, rather than the Council, authority to implement the programs, and in particular, to set the business terms for the development projects. 96. The purpose of these State statutes is to create financial incentives for private investment in the construction and rehabilitation of deteriorating buildings, where blighted conditions and other factors discourage private investment. By increasing the cost of labor in connection with any development project that triggers the Law's wage requirement, and thus increasing the cost of the project as a whole, the Prevailing Wage Law frustrates this pu{pose. 97. For these reasons, the Prevailing Wage Law is preempted, and it would be unlawful for the Mayor or mayoral appointees to seek to enforce that Law against employers purportedly covered by the Local Laws. 3l SIXTH CAUSE OF ACTION (Curtailment of the Mayor's Authority to Establish the Terms of Disposition of City Property and the Authority of the Mayor and other City Officials to Review the Land Use Implications of Such Dispositions) 98. As and for a sixth cause of action, plaintiff repeats and realleges the above allegations with the same force and effect as if fully set forth in this paragraph. 99. Any local law that "fa]bolishes, transfers or curtails any power of an elective offtcer" "shall be subject to a mandatory referendum" of the voters. MHRL 523(2), The City Charter likewise requires that a local law be approved by referendum if it transfers or curtails "any power" of an elective offrcial such as the Mayor, or transfers power from a mayoral to a non-mayoral appointee or entity, or curtails the powers of the City Planning Commission. N.Y. City Charter $ 38(5), 38(11), and 38(16). 100. The Local Laws are invalid because they have not been approved by referendum even though they curtail the power granted to the Mayor under the Charter to dispose of City real property on terms that he or she alone sets. 101, Many major City economic development projects involve the sale or lease of City real property to third parties at below market rates. Such sales are accomplished through NYCEDC. State law and the New York City Charter give the Mayor the power to convey City real property to NYCEDC or any other local development corporation for economic development or other public purpose without competitive bidding, and on terms that the Mayor may set, subject only to the approval of the Borough Board. Historically, the terms of the dispositions set by Mayors have required the local development corporation to, in turn, dispose of the property to a specihc purchaser and on specific terms set forth in the Mayoral approval. 102. Section 384(bX4) of the New York City Charter assigns to the Mayor the authority to sell or lease property to a local development corporation. The Mayor authorizes 32 such sales or leases subject to the local development corporation's obligation to dispose of the property in a specific manner. Under $ 384(bX4), the Mayor is authorized, subject only to the subsequent approval of the pertinent Borough Board, to lease or sell real property of the City "to a local development corporation without competitive bidding and for such purpose or purposes and at such rental or for such price as may be determined by the mayor to be in the public interest." Charter $ 384(bX4). This provision explicitly ovenides any contrary law, general or special or local. Id. 103. Section 384(bX4) operates in tandem with section l41l of the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law, which authorizes governmental entities to create local development corporations to advance a wide array of public purposes related to economic development. NPCL $ lal1(a). Pursuant to NPCL $ 1411, NYCEDC was created to assist in furthering the economic development goals of certain City real property dispositions, as well as to implement other economic development initiatives. 104. The Charter's text and structure provide a context for the power granted the Mayor in Charter $ 384(bX4), This context reveals the limited role played by the Council in this area, and shows that the power granted to the Mayor in that paragraph functions as a component of a rational scheme. Section 384(bX5) provides that dispositions of City property are subject to the Uniform Land Use Review Process ("ULURP") of Chapter 8 of the Charter and states that review in the ULURP process is "limited to the land use impact and implications of the transaction," /d. $ 384(bX5). The Council's role in the ULURP process is in turn defined by Charter $ 197-d, which provides for various procedures by which the Council can review different types of dispositions of City real property. The Council cannot regulate the disposition of property outside the ULURP process, because Charter $ 28(a) limits the Council's role: JJ The power of the council to act with respect to matters set forth in section[ ] one hundred ninety seven-c fthe main ULURP provision] , . . shall be limited by the provisions of section one hundred ninety seven-d [the section defining the Council's role in ULURP]. Thus, the Council's role with respect to real property dispositions is limited to its review of the land use implications of these dispositions on an individualized basis. 105. Contrary to this statutory scheme, which assigns to the Mayor the power to impose the terms of property dispositions, the Council here is imposing a specific term on every disposition of property pursuant to Charter $ 384(bX4). Under the Local Laws, any disposition of City property by the Mayor through NYCEDC in connection with a project that receives City financial assistance as defined by those Laws, and that meets the other criteria of the Local Laws, is subject to the wage regulation terms of the Local Laws. 106. By limiting the Mayor's discretion in setting the terms and conditions of property dispositions and inserting the Council into matters specifically denied to it by the structure and text of the Charter, the Local Laws curtail the Mayor's power. 107. Further, by effectively eliminating the possibility of disposition of real property in certain sases, the Council has improperly used the local law process to curtail the powers of other City officials and bodies essential to the City's governmental structure, including the City Planning Commission, the Borough Presidents, and the Community Boards, to make recommendations and take actions in the ULURP process. See Charter $$ 197-c, 197-d; see also Charter $ 38(l 1) and 38(16). 108. By enacting these Local Laws, the Council is imposing a non-land use related condition upon the ULURP process in excess of its prescribed role, thereby effectively preventing some property dispositions, and the related development initiatives, from proceeding at all. This circumvention of the limitations imposed upon the Council so as to eliminate or alter 34 the role of the Mayor, the Borough Presidents, and other City offrcials whose roles are defined by the Charter curtails the powers of those officials. SEVENTH CAUSE OF ACTION (Curtailment of the Mayor's Authority to Acquire Offïce Space by Lease for City Use and of the City Planning Commission's Power to Review Leases by the Prevailing \ilage Law) 109. As and for a seventh cause of action, plaintiff repeats and realleges the above allegations with the same force and effect as if fully set forth in this paragraph. ll0, The Prevailing Wage Law requires that certain lessors of office space to the City and their contractors pay a prevailing wage to the building service employees who work in certain buildings in which the City is a tenant. In so doing, that Law curtails the power of the Mayor and the DCAS Commissioner, a mayoral appointee, to acquire office space by lease on behalf of the City. II 1, As with other real property acquisitions and dispositions, the only authority that the Charter gives to the Council with respect to leasing of ofhce space is in the area of land use. The Charter gives even greater authority to the executive branch in such leasing than in other dispositions or acquisitions of real property, ll2. The acquisition of office space by the City as lessee is governed by Charter $$ 824(a), 195, and 197-c. Section 824(a) gives the DCAS Commissioner the power "to purchase, lease, condemn or otherwise acquire real property for the city, subject to the approval of the mayor . . . and subject to review and approval either pursuant to section one hundred ninety-five, if applicable, or pursuant to sçction one hundred ninety-seven-c and one hundred ninety-seven-d." No role is specified for the City Council other than the role it plays through land use review pursuant to the provisions cited in $ 82a(a). The history and structure of the 35 Charter indicate an understanding that the power to set the terms of acquisitions of real property, other than land use-related terms, is reserved to the Mayor and mayoral appointees. 113. The leasing of office space by the City as lessee is exempted from ULURP by Charter $ 197-c(a)(11), which subjects to ULURP all City acquisitions of real property "other than the acquisition of ffice space." The acquisition of office space is instead governed by Charter $ 195, appropriately titled "Acquisitions of office space." The placement and substance of this provision, which governs the Council's role in such leasing, limits that role to land use issues. Charter $ 195 is found in Chapter 8 of the Charter, entitled "City Planning," thê subject matter of which is exclusively land use. That chapter also comprises the provisions governing the full ULURP process, $$ 197-c and 197-d. Section 195 sets forth an abbreviated "mini- ULURP" procedure that must be followed in such acquisitions, Il4. The roles given to elected officials in these Charter provisions are clearly set forth: the powers are structural in nature, and cannot be set aside by a local law without a referendum. The Council's Prevailing Wage Law, which requires that landlords who lease to the City ensure that their contractors pay aprevailing wage and comply with reporting requirements, constrains the ability of the Mayor and mayoral agencies to present proposed sites to the Department of City Planning and the City Planning Commission pursuant to $ 195, and supersedes the site-specific land-use review process given to the Council by that section and $ 824. Indeed, a property that is owned by an individual or entity that will not comply with the new superimposed business term cannot be leased at all. 115. Thus, the Law improperly curtails the power of the Mayor and the DCAS Commissioner to set the terms of City office space leases, as well as the power of the City Planning Commission under Charter $ 38(16) to review leases. 36 EIGHTH CAUSE OF ACTION (Curtailment of the Mayor's Executive Enforcement Authority and Transfer of Authority to the Comptroller) 116. As and for an eighth cause of action, plaintiff repeats and realleges the above allegations with the same force and effect as if fully set forth in this parcgraph. ll7. Under the Local Laws, the Comptroller shares implementation and enforcement powers with the Mayor in a manner that impermissibly curtails the executive power of the Mayor and transfers mayoral powers to the Comptroller I 18. In particular, the Local Laws give the Comptroller the authority to: monitor the compliance of covered employers, lessors, and developers, Admin. Code $$ 6-130(dX3), 6-l 3a(g)(l); conduct investigations whenever there is reason to believe a violation has occurred, id $$ 6-130(dX3), 6-134(9)(1), with the express authorization under the Living Wage Law to observe work being performed, interview employees, and examine the books and records relating to payrolls, id, S 6-l3a(gX1); request, at the start of any investigation, that the City or City Economic Development Entity withhold any payment due to the financial assistance recipient pursuant to withholding procedures established by State Labor Law, id. $$ 6-130(dX3), 6-13a(eX1); "report the results of [any] investigation to the mayor, or his or her designee, who shall, where appropriate issue an order, determination, or other disposition, including, but not limited to, a stipulation of settlement," id. $$ 6-130(dX4), 6-t3aG)Q); o submit annual reports to the Mayor and the City Council summarizing and assessing the implementation and enforcement of the Living Wage Law, id, g 6-130(dXl); O inspect the payroll records of covered employers, lessors, and developers, id. $$ 6-130(bxs), 6-130(cX5), 6-l3a(Ð(3); o request certified original payroll records from covered employers, lessors, and developers, id. $ $ 6- I 3 0(bX3), 6- I 3 0(c)(3), 6- 1 34(e)(2); o receive from financial assistance recipients and covered lessors and developers annual certifications stating that all employees are paid no less than the requisite wage, id. $$ 6- I 30(b)(2), (c)(2), 6- I 3a(f(1 ); 37 o prepare written notices to be provided to employees, detailing the wages, benefits, and other protections to which employees are entitled and inviting employees to request that the Comptroller launch an investigation, id. $$ 6-130(bX4), 6- 1 30(cXa), 6- I 34(e)(1), 119. Under the Charter, the Comptroller does not have the power to administer programs, to regulate, or to enforce. See Charter $ 93. Under $ 3 of the Charter, the power to administer programs and enforce laws rests squarely with the Mayor, as the chief executive officer, and with his or her appointees. By giving enforcement powers to the Comptroller, consolidating information gathering duties in the Comptroller's offlce, and mandating that mayoral agencies obey the Comptroller's determinations, the Local Laws impermissibly encroach on the Mayor's authority and the discretion of the mayoral agencies. 120. Further, the Local Laws unlawfully require the Mayor to share investigatory and enforcement power with the Comptroller, giving both the Comptroller and the Mayor power to receive complaints and conduct investigations based on such complaints. N.Y.C. Admin. Code $ $ 6- I 30(e)( 1 ), 6- 1 3 0(e)(2), 6-13 4(9)(6), 6-134(sX8), 6- 1 3a(eX9). l2I. The Mayor possesses the sole power to implement and enforce local laws, and a delegation of this authority to the Comptroller is a curtailment that is impermissible absent a referendum. In giving the Comptroller rather than the Mayor the lead role in the enforcement scheme, in derogation of the Mayor's executive authority, the Local Laws impair a power conferred on the Mayor as part of the framework of local government. NINTH CAUSE OF'ACTION (Preemption of the Living Wage Law by ERISA) 122. As and for a ninth cause of action, plaintiff repeats and realleges the above allegations with the same force and effect as if fully set forth in this paragraph. 123. Because it mandates that covered employees must provide health benefits or a cash equivalent to employees, the Living Wage Law is a law that relates to employee benefit 38 plans and is therefore preempted by ERISA, 29 U.S.C. $$ l00l et seq., which preempts State laws insofar as they relate to any employee benefit plan covered by the Act, 29 U.S.C. $ tt44(a). 124. As defined by ERISA, employee benefit plans include any "plan, fund, or program . . . established or maintained by an employer . . . for the purpose of providing for its participants or their beneficiaries, through the purchase of insurance or otherwise . . . medical, surgical, or hospital care or benefits, or benefits in the event of sickness, accident, disability, death or unemployment, or vacation benefits, apprenticeship or other training programs, or day care centers, scholarship funds, or prepaid legal services." 29 U,S.C. $ 1002(1). 125. ERISA prohibits states or localities from mandating or favoring certain benefits over others. By mandating that covered employees must provide health benefits or cash, without crediting employers for other benefits they may provide, the Living V/age Law impermissibly favors health benefits over other benefits. Even if employers attempt to pay a cash wage, they will have to coordinate the health benefits spending required by the Living V/age Law with their existing ERISA plans. Any law that requires such coordination is preempted. 126. Moreover, the effect the Living Wage Law will have on ERISA plans and plan sponsors runs counter to the purpose of ERISA, The purpose of the ERISA preemption provision was to ensure that plans and plan sponsors would be subject to a uniform system of benefits law so as to minimize the administrative and financial burden of complying with conflicting directives and to avoid the need to tailor plans and employer conduct to the peculiarities of the law of each jurisdiction. The Living V/age Law will require employers to do exactly what ERISA aims to prevent: tailor their plans to the peculiarities of a particular 39 jurisdiction's laws. By dictating that employers must provide health benefits, without any consideration of other benefits employers may provide, the Living V/age Law has a connection with ERISA employee plans and imposes on employers to the very burdens Congress sought to avoid by enacting ERISA. 127. Accordingly, the Living V/age Law is preempted by ERISA., and it would be unlawful for the Mayor or mayoral appointees to seek to enforce that Law against employers purportedly covered by the Local Laws. TENTH CAUSE OF ACTION (Violation of N.Y. State Constitution, Art.IX, $3(a)(2) and Municipal Home Rule Law $11(1)(e)) 128. As and for a tenth cause of action, plaintiff repeats and realleges the above allegations with the same force and effect as if fully set forth in this paragraph. 129. Article IX, section 3, of the New York State Constitution provides in relevant part: "(a) Except as expressly provided, nothing in this article shall restrict or impair any power of the legislature in relation to: . . . (2)The courts as required or provided by article VI of this constitution." 130. In addition, Municipal Home Rule Law $ l1(1Xe) provides that "[n]otwithstanding any provision of this chapter, the legislative body shall not be deemed authorized by this chapter to adopt a local law which supersedes a state statute, if such local law: .. , e. Applies to or affects the eourts as required or provided by article six of the constitution." 131. Both Local Laws provide that enforcement orders may be filed with one or more county clerks, and that such orders are to have the "full force and effect of a judgment duly docketed in the office of such clerk," so that they can be entered in the same manner as money judgments under the Civil Practice Law and Rules. Admin. Code $ 6-130(dX7); $ 6-13a(gx5), 40 I32. These provisions are unlawful because they exceed the constitutional home rule powers of the City Council, in that they relate to the courts and the filing of local decisions with county clerks, acting in relation to the New York State court system. N,Y. Const., Art. IX, $3(aX2); MHRL $1 1(lXe), 133. It would be unlawful for the Mayor or mayoral appointees to seek to enforce the Local Laws against employers purportedly covered by the Local Laws. WHEREFORE, plaintiff respectfully requests a declaratory judgment that the Local Laws are invalid, without force or effect; a permanent injunction enjoining the operation and implementation of the Local Laws; and such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper, Dated: New York, New York Iuly 27,2012 MICHAEL A. CARDOZO Corporation Counsel of the City of New York Attomey for Plaintiff 100 Church Street, Room 20-94 New York, NY 10007 (212) 788-l 007 By: Of counsel: Andrea Berger Spencer Fisher Brian T. Horan 4I
Pages to are hidden for
"Summons _ Complaint 7-27-12 - __ Legal 3666356_"Please download to view full document


text:
The Wisdom of Taking Charge of Your Health and Environment: Holistic Approach for Living a Quality LifePaperback
Free delivery worldwide
Dispatched in 3 business days
When will my order arrive?
- Publisher: Booksurge Publishing
- Format: Paperback | 306 pages
- Dimensions: 152mm x 226mm x 20mm | 476g
- Publication date: 19 June 2009
- Illustrations note: black & white illustrations
Product description
Numerous case histories and research data exhibit that healthy life style is key to our longevity and enjoying a healthy and happy life. The primary components of "healthy life style" are: (i) keeping our environment healthy, i.e., clean air, water, and soil (ii) eating right diet (in both quality and quantity), (iii) engaging in regular exercise, e. g., walking, yoga and others, (iv) regularly managing our stress, (v) keeping our spirit healthy, and (vi) routinely tracking the "state of our health." These aspects of healthy life style, supported by research data and case histories, are discussed in detail in this book. In addition, this book stresses that, as responsible health consumers, we should keep track of most recent health related research and recommendations. Finally, the book makes a case that to age graciously and to live healthy we not only need to follow "healthy life style" but must also be cheerful with positive state of mind about our lives.
Add item to wishlist
Other books in this category
How to Win Friends and Influence...
USD$6.67 - Save $2.29 25% off - RRP $8.96
Save Our Sleep
USD$12.53 - Save $4.72 27% off - RRP $17.25
The Dukan Diet
USD$11.10 - Save $4.58 29% off - RRP $15.68
Annabel Karmel's New Complete Ba...
USD$18.84 - Save $4.69 19% off - RRP $23.53
I Quit Sugar
USD$18.45 - Save $5.08 21% off - RRP $23.53
Gut and Psychology Syndrome
USD$26.23 - Save $1.95 (6%) - RRP $28.18
- Categories:
Author information
Dr Hari D. Sharma, a practicing professional engaged in the field of protection of human health and the environment and a yoga practitioner, has a Doctoral degree, and a M.B.A. degree, and has training and experience in yoga and stress relief. He has taught courses and given lectures to students at the University level for a number of years. Most recently, he also served as a National Research Council Committee member. Dr. Sharma has authored and coauthored numerous books and technical papers on topics ranging from spirituality and inspiration to human health and environmental protection. His experience, training, research, and keen interest in the field of holistic health have prepared Dr. Sharma to write this book: The Wisdom of Taking Charge of Your Health and Environment.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
These Subaru Rally Photos Will Blow Your Mind
You didn't realize motorsports could be so gorgeous. »
You didn't realize motorsports could be so gorgeous. »
First off, apologies for possibly THE most distasteful Oregon Trail Rally/Oregon Trail Video Game joke/analogy ever conceived. With every tragedy comes opportunity - like making a drawing I could never have gotten away with otherwise.
The Subaru Rally Team USA crew may have just a bit more experience with this than your usual NASIOC bros, but when one of their cars experienced engine woes at the Oregon Trail Rally, they got to work. Old engine out, new engine in. Here's a time-lapse of a sub-three-hour engine swap for one of their Imprezas. »
All of those beautiful rally yumps and drifts rely on one crucial component: tires. When you have a busted tire, it makes everything completely miserable. Ride along with the Troy Motorsports Ford Fiesta R2 as it struggles to move in a straight line on the Scotia North stage of the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood. »
When we first saw the 2015 Subaru WRX STI Rally America car, it was in narrowbody snow spec. Here it is as a full widebody. »
As the snow falls outside, let's take a minute and revel in the perfection of AWD rally cars slaying sideways at this past weekend's Sno*Drift Rally in Michigan. »
I recently had the chance to drive the 2014 Subaru WRX STI Rally America car, and I thought I went really fast. But later that day, I rode with David Higgins in his brand new 2015 open class WRX STI. I did not drive fast, and my face still hurts from how much I smiled. »
Rallying is a nuanced art. It takes years of training to get to the level where you can drive an open class car like this Subaru WRX STI with a sequential gearbox and 500 pound feet of torque. But I didn't have years of training. I had hours. And driving it has warped my brain forever. »
What happens when you hand a rally driver a new race car? They send it sideways over the first yump available. »
Could Rally America be kaput after January 1? That's what some rumblings around the Internet would have you think, although their release of a 2015 national championship schedule suggests otherwise. There's also the new United States Rally Association. How do they play into this? Let's take a look at the rumors. »
This year's Rally American Championship is coming to a close, but Jalopnik reader and Opponaut, Tennisguy187, regales us with a tale of his very first Rally America experience back in 2012. Oh, and the pictures are really cool too (even if he does think he's a bit too awkward next to his idols). »
Summer is in full swing in the forests of New England, and this weekend the border country between New Hampshire and Maine is filled with rally cars. David Higgins and Craig Drew of Subaru Rally Team USA are on a mission. A fourth consecutive Rally-America Championship title is within their grasp. They will have to… »
If you live near Pennsylvania and are free this weekend you should go check out the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally in Wellsboro, PA. The rally starts tomorrow and runs through saturday evening. Check out their site for spectator details, grab your friends, and road trip to a rally. »
Ah, June. The magical time of year when Canada and Michigan's Upper Peninsula finally thaw enough for residents to leave their log cabins and take up nobler, more exciting pursuits. By which I of course mean the annual moose rodeo and maple cook-off. Or, for those who are allergic to being trampled to death, rally.… »
One of the complaints I hear most often from aspiring rally fans is the all too common "there's no events near me!" While this is certainly true for some (sorry, Texas!) in many places there's a rally within a few hours drive that people simply don't know about. For example, all you Californians! Did you know your… »
This could be the year that Rally Sports finally leave their mark on America. If you're a fan you've probably been hearing (or saying that) for a long time, but this year is different now that we have Rally America on the NBC Sports Network and Redbull in charge of the Global Rallycross. »
Today shall go down as a date of destiny in American history. The Battle of Yorktown, the Moon landings, they have all aired up to this. American rally is airing on American TV, and it all starts in a few minutes. Watch this preview, and you'll know where you were when it happened. »
Travis Pastrana is returning to the Rally America series this weekend! The Rally in the 100 Acre Wood kicks off in Missouri on Friday, so naturally that means the teams have been doing some testing. »
Hey Guys, Saw all this talk about rally and maybe even a little talk about a GTX, Raphael?, and thought I'd throw this out really quick. »
This weekend is the Lake Superior Performance Rally, otherwise known as the final round of the 2013 Rally American Championship. While testing yesterday, competitor Rifat Sungkar had an incident with his Open Class Mitsubishi Evo X. See the video. »


text:
Tutti Fruit Punch
17 Jan 2011
|Frozen unsweetened strawberries
|16 Ounce, thawed (1 Package)
|Frozen pineapple juice concentrate
|6 Ounce, thawed (1 Can, Undiluted)
|Frozen apple juice concentrate
|3 Ounce, thawed (Undiluted, 1/2 Of 6 Ounce Can)
|Frozen orange juice concentrate
|3 Ounce, thawed (Undiluted, 1/2 Of 6 Ounce Can)
|1 1⁄2 Cup (24 tbs)
|Salt free seltzer water
|33 3⁄4 Ounce, chilled (1 Bottle)
Combine first 4 ingredients in container of an electric blender; top with cover, and process until smooth.
Combine strawberry mixture and 1 1/2 cups water in a large pitcher; cover and chill at least 3 hours.
To serve, add chilled seltzer water to juice mixture, and stir gently.
Serve punch immediately.
Recipe Summary
Difficulty Level:Better Buy
Rate It
0 Comments
Tutti Fruit Punch Recipe


text:
DHFS What To Bring
Fabulous ideas for Living on Campus at The University of Texas at Austin.
First, the basics: Extra Long Tw in shee ts What to Bring Sheets, Pillows, blankets, and anything else you want for a comfy bed Every room has a lockable drawer for each roommate.. you just need to bring the lock! First aid kit and meds have the basics on hand so you're prepared! (when you cut yourself or get a headache, the last thing you want to do is go to the store) Fabulous ideas for living on campus at the University of Texas at Austin Power Strip don't forget your toothbrush! Dishes and utensils you never know when you'll get hungry in your room! Laundry Supplies Low Suds cOMPACT fLUORESCENT LIGHT BULBS ARE REQUIRED FOR ANY LAMPS YOU BRING. cflS USE 75% LESS ENERGY AND PRODUCE 75% LESS HEAT. pLUS, THEY LAST 6 tIMES AS LONG! for more ideas, see Utexas.edu/livehere and pinterest.com/uthousing (The machines take quarters and Bevo Bucks) plastic storage to organize your life iF YOU HAVE A pRIVATE OR CONNECTING bATH: hand soap ) s ( e i m o o r r u o Talk to sy m id -j u ly ) in t u o g in ll o r rt (a s s ig n m en ts ta n Maybe y'all ca share... S ize RG-6 or RG-59 some Things you may want: you'll be responsible for providing toilet tissu e . s e i l p p u s ng i n ! a n e a l e l c c g m n i oo br r h o t t a b d e e r u n You'll you to keep yo It's up to this is a toilet brush. .hope you know how to use it! 5 ft 8 ft RUG Coffee Pot 12-cup or smaller For each Roommate.. a bed (including a mattress) And one.. a Desk and a Chair (furniture style varies by hall) Stuff that's already in your room: (also good for heating water for ramen noodles!) Blender mmm...smoothies! please leave this prohibited stuff at home: Drawers and closet space for your clothes please don't bring your own. Weapons of any kind... real or fake Anything with an open flame, including Incense or Candles, whether the wick has ever been burned or not, it doesn't matter. These appliances and others like them create a fire hazard in the halls. For a complete list of prohibited items, please see utexas.edu/livehere division of housing and food service � Division of Student Affairs � The University of Texas at Austin


text:
Twitter queen DeGeneres readies to host Oscars
Posted: January 23, 2014 at 5:57 a.m.
Since 2011, when The Oprah Winfrey Show ended its run, daytime TV has been on a desperate search for a new supreme ruler, a star capable of delivering more than enormous ratings (Dr. Phil can do that) and acting as more than a moral compass (bless you, Judge Judy).
This story is only available from our archives.
Style, Pages 29 on 01/23/2014
« Previous Story
Gig of a lifetime
It might seem that Barrett Baber skyrocketed to success. Read »
Next Story »
People & Places
White wins scholarship Ashley Carol Lee White of Rogers has received a Chancellor's Scholarship to study at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. Read »


text:
Zawe Ashton
|Zawe Ashton
Ashton in December 2013
|Zawedde Ashton
21 July 1984
Hackney, London, England
|Actress, playwright
|Years active
Zawedde "Zawe" Ashton[1] (/ˈzæwiː/;[2] born 21 July 1984) is an English actress and playwright, best known for portraying Imani in Gone Too Far!, Bianca in St. Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold, and Vod in the Channel 4 comedy series Fresh Meat.
Early life[edit]
Ashton was born in Hackney, London, the eldest of three children born to an Ugandan mother, Victoria,[3] and an English father, Paul Ashton, both teachers (her father later worked for Channel 4 in educational programming). Her maternal grandfather was Ugandan President and Prime Minister Paulo Muwanga.[4] She attended the Anna Scher Theatre School and was a member of the National Youth Theatre. She studied at the City and Islington College, then at the Manchester Metropolitan University School of Theatre, where she gained a degree in acting.[5][6]
Ashton attended the Anna Scher Theatre after school junior classes and later became a member of the Anna Scher YPs (Young Professionals). She started improvised acting at the age of six due to her confidence, social skills and creativity.[5]
Her television work includes Holby City, The Bill, NCS: Manhunt, Casualty, The Crust, and Misfits. In 2011, Ashton starred in the Channel 4 comedy Fresh Meat playing the part of Vod. She also was in a BBC 2 science show as one of the three curious children.
Her theatre credits include Rhinoceros, The Arsonists, Gone Too Far! (Royal Court), Othello (Globe Theatre), Frontline (Globe Theatre), All The Little Things We Crushed (Almeida ), This Wide Night (Soho Theatre), The Cage (Nuffield Theatre Company, Southampton) and Michael Frayn's comedy Here at the Rose Theatre, Kingston. In June 2010 Ashton was awarded 2nd prize at the Ian Charleson Awards for her classical performance in Salome (Headlog Theatre).
In 2009, she appeared in St. Trinian's II: The Legend of Fritton's Gold. Two years later she appeared alongside Jason Statham in the film Blitz[7] and Jason Isaacs in the television adaptation of Kate Atkinson's Case Histories. In 2011, Ashton starred in the BBC Christmas show Lapland.[8][9] She also starred as Joyce Carol Vincent in the film Dreams of a Life in the same year, for which she was nominated in the Most Promising Newcomer category at the 2012 British Independent Film Awards.
Ashton was named in May 2010 as one of the "55 faces of the future" by Nylon magazine's Young Hollywood Issue. In October 2012, she was awarded the "Ultimate Newcomer" trophy by Cosmopolitan magazine at their Women of the Year awards.[10] In November 2012 Ashton picked up the Creative Diversity Network Award for Best Breakthrough On-Screen Talent for her role as Vod in the BAFTA-nominated Channel 4 hit Fresh Meat. In 2013 Ashton added yet another award to her name as winner of the Screen Nation Awards for Female Performance in a Film 2012/2013, a recognition for her lead role performance in Dreams of a Life.
Ashton began entering poetry slams at the age of seventeen,[5] and won the London Poetry Slam Championship in 2000.[11] In 2006 she was Young Writer in Residence at the Contact Theatre in Manchester.[11] Her first play, Harm's Way, was shortlisted for the Verity Bargate Award in 2007,[5] and premiered at the Lowry, Salford in 2008 as part of National Youth Theatre's new writing season. Her other plays have included Skunk, performed by the National Youth Theatre, Soho Theatre and "She from the Sea" performed at The Lift. Ashton was co-writer of Suddenlossofdignity.com, Bush Futures Programme. One of her plays, For all Those Women who Thought they were Mad was selected to be part of the Royal Court Playwriting Festival in 2009.[6][11] Ashton contributed to the writing of The Children's Monologues adapted from over 300 original stories by Tswana, Zulu and Sesotho children in South Africa and presented by Dramatic Need in 2010. She is currently under commission to the Bush Theatre and the Clean Break theatre company.[12]
Ashton was named as one of Screen International's Stars of Tomorrow 2009.[12]
|St. Trinian's II: The Legend of Fritton's Gold
|WPC Elizabeth Falls
|Dreams of a Life
|Joyce Vincent
|Game On
|Little Girl
|1 episode
|Holby City
|Abigail Meredith
|1 episode
|1 episode
|The Bill
|Becka Adams
|1 episode
|1 episode
|Sally Donavan
|1 episode (unaired pilot)
|1 episode
|Case Histories
|Deborah Arnold
|8 episodes
|Fresh Meat
|Violet "Vod" Nordstrom
|Main cast
24 episodes
|Jingle Jill
|1 episode
|Doctor Who
|Journey Blue
|1 episode (Series 8 Episode 2: Into the Dalek).
|Not Safe For Work
|6 episodes
- ^ Gilbert, Gerard (29 September 2012). "Zawe Ashton: 'The views expressed here are not my own'". The Independent. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
- ^ "The cast of Fresh Meat at the Cosmopolitan Ultimare Women Awards 2011". YouTube. 4 November 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
- ^ Adewummi, Bim (4 November 2013). "Fresh Meat's Zawe Ashton, AKA Vod, is the coolest thing on TV right now". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
- ^ "Zawe, actress of Ugandan descent, scales Hollywood". Ugandan Observer. 1 March 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ^ a b c d Williams, Karla (June 2009). "ATN Interview with Zawe Ashton, The Frontline". Afridiziak Theatre News. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
- ^ a b Bourke, Kevin (28 March 2008). "Into Harm's Way". City Life. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
- ^ "Full Casting for Recently Completed 'Blitz'". BloodyDisgusting.com. 13 October 2009.
- ^ "BBC One commissions new six part comedy series, Lapland". BBC. BBC Online. 4 October 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
- ^ Catherine Morshead (director), Rosemary McGowan (producer) (24 December 2011). "Lapland (24 December 2011)". Lapland. BBC. BBC One.
- ^ Dadds, Kimberley (31 October 2012). "Cosmopolitan Awards: Zawe Ashton shows off her winning assets in daring plunging gown". Daily Mail. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
- ^ a b c Agency Listing - Zawe Ashton The Rod Hall Agency Limited. Retrieved on 17 August 2009.
- ^ a b Zawe Ashton | Features | Screen Retrieved on 17 August 2009.
External links[edit]
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zawe Ashton.
- 1984 births
- Living people
- English women dramatists and playwrights
- English television actresses
- English child actresses
- English stage actresses
- English radio actresses
- English voice actresses
- English film actresses
- Shakespearean actresses
- Actresses from London
- People from Hackney
- Alumni of City and Islington College
- Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University
- National Youth Theatre members


text:
1844 H10C PR65 Cameo PCGS. CAC. V-3c....
2012 August 2-5 US Coins Signature Auction- Philadelphia #1173
|Sold for:
|Sign-in or Join (free & quick)
|Claim Item:
|Sign-in or Join (free & quick)
|Auction Ended On:
|Aug 3, 2012
|Item Activity:
8 Internet/mail/phone bidders
357 page views
Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel
201 North 17th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
|Printable auction results for all items in the 2012 August 2-5 US Coins Signature Auction- Philadelphia.
1844 Half Dime, PR65 Cameo1844 H10C PR65 Cameo PCGS. CAC. V-3c. The dramatic repunched date of this example is attributed as V-3c, according to Al Blythe in the Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Half Dimes. When that reference was published, just six proof 1844 Repunched Date coins were known to the author, along with nine Normal Date proofs. The population is little changed since then. This example is the only Cameo proof 1844 half dime of either variety that PCGS has certified, and the only 1844 proof dime of any grade or designation that is approved by CAC.
V-3c, FS-301, Repunched Date
The Only PCGS Cameo Proof
V-3c, FS-301, Repunched Date
The Only PCGS Cameo Proof
This noticeably striated and cameoed specimen is intricately detailed and exhibits dappled violet and orange-gold toning that yields to flashes of sea-green at the margins. Both sides have been well cared for.
Ex: Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 6/2004), lot 6036; Pittsburgh Signature (Heritage, 8/2004), lot 352; Long Beach Signature (Heritage, 2/2005), lot 6156; FUN Signature (Heritage, 1/2012), lot 1166; Central States (Heritage, 4/2012), lot 5058.(Registry values: P3) (PCGS# 84420)
View large image(s) of this item
Service and Handling Description: Coins & Currency (view shipping information)
Sales Tax information | PCGS Guarantee of Grade and Authenticity | Terms and Conditions
Guides and Pricing Information:
Previous Prices from Heritage Auctions
|Sign-in or Join (free & quick)
Price Guide
|Sign-in or Join (free & quick)
Population Guide
|Sign-in or Join (free & quick)
Find Auction Prices for Comparable Items:
Sign-in or Join (free & quick) to see the full image