Wholesale Laundry Bd. of Trade, Inc. v. City of New York

• Citation: 43 Misc.2d 816,252 N.Y.S.2d 502
• Court: United States State Supreme Court (New York)
• Decision Date: 25 August 1964
• Parties: WHOLESALE LAUNDRY BOARD OF TRADE, INC., Prudential Laundry Corp., Quick Service Laundry, Inc., Central Laundry Service Corp., Clason Laundry Co. Inc., Ideal Cash & Carry Corp., Starlight Laundry Service, Inc., Sunshine-Quaker Laundry Service, Inc. and Washington Heights Laundry Corp., Plaintiffs, v. The CITY OF NEW YORK, Defendant.

Page 502

252 N.Y.S.2d 502

43 Misc.2d 816

WHOLESALE LAUNDRY BOARD OF TRADE, INC., Prudential Laundry

Corp., Quick Service Laundry, Inc., Central Laundry Service

Corp., Clason Laundry Co. Inc., Ideal Cash & Carry Corp.,

Starlight Laundry Service, Inc., Sunshine-Quaker Laundry

Service, Inc. and Washington Heights Laundry Corp., Plaintiffs, v. The CITY OF NEW YORK, Defendant.

Supreme Court, Special Term, New York County, Part I.

Aug. 25, 1964.

Bluestone & Kliegman, New York City, for plaintiffs.

Leo A. Larkin, Corp. Counsel, New York City, for defendant.

SIDNEY A. FINE, Justice.

This is a motion by plaintiffs for summary judgment upon the first cause of action or, in the alternative, for judgment declaring unconstitutional Local Law #45 of the Local Laws of the City of New York. The first cause of action seeks a judicial declaration that Local Law #45 of the year 1964, which fixes a minimum wage of $1.50 per hour in New York City, is unconstitutional on various grounds.

In 1962, the City of New York adopted Local Law #59 of that year, which likewise fixed a minimum wage of $1.50 in New York City. At that time, section 652 of the Labor Law provided for a minimum wage of $1 per hour until October 15, 1962, $1.15 per hour until October 15, 1964, and thereafter $1.25 per hour. Section 652 is still in full force and effect.

Motions for temporary injunctions in actions brought to declare the 1962 Local Law unconstitutional were granted by the Appellate Division (Wholesale Laundry Board of Trade et al. v. The City of New York; N. Y. State Restaurant Association, Inc., et al. v. The City of New York, 17 A.D.2d 327, 234 N.Y.S.2d 862). Thereafter, this court, at Special Term, Granted the plaintiffs' motions for summary judgment and denied the defendant's motions to dismiss the complaint and for judgment declaring the Local Law constitutional (Mr. Justice Fine, N.Y.L.J., Dec. 24, 1962, p. 9, col. 2). The Appellate Division affirmed (18 A.D.2d 967, 968, 969). The Court of Appeals also affirmed, though by a divided court (12 N.Y.2d 998, 239 N.Y.S.2d 128, 189 N.E.2d 623). The majority of the Court of Appeals affirmed upon the opinion of the Appellate Division in 17 A.D.2d 327, 234 N.Y.S.2d 862. In that opinion, Mr. Justice Steuer, writing for the court, held that the 1962 Local Law was inconsistent with sections 650 through 665 of the Labor Law, also called the Minimum Wage Act, because the Local Law (p. 330, 234 N.Y.S.2d p. 865) 'forbids a hiring at a wage which the state law permits and so prohibits what the state law allows'. Since the State Constitution, as it then read, prohibited a city from enacting legislation inconsistent with the 'laws of the State,' the court held that the 1962 Local Law was unconstitutional. It pointed out that (p. 330, 234 N.Y.S.2d p. 865) 'the state law indicates a purpose to occupy the entire field [of minimum wage legislation].' The court declared that this purpose was apparent (p. 330, 234 N.Y.S.2d p. 865) 'from the restriction on any law that supersedes any provision of the labor law (City Home Rule Law, § 21)' as well as from the provisions of the State Minimum Wage Act which provide 'machinery for the determination of an adequate wage in any occupation and in any locality, including the City of New York.' Attention was also called (p. 329, 234 N.Y.S.2d p. 864) to the provision of section 11, subdivision 4, of the City Home Rule Law that 'Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed by implication or otherwise to authorize an amendment or repeal of any provision of the labor law.'

Thereafter, on January 1, 1964, an amendment to the State Constitution went into effect which broadened the powers of local governments to enact local legislation (Art. 9, N.Y.State Constitution). On the theory that this constitutional amendment rendered obsolete the prior decision that the City had no power to enact legislation fixing $1.50 per hour as a minimum wage therein, the City adopted Local Law No. 45 of the year 1964, the statute whose constitutionality is presented for determination in this action. That Local Law, like the 1962 Local Law, fixes $1.50 per hour as the minimum wage in the City.

No claim is made by the City that the constitutional amendment was designed to overcome the holding of the Court of Appeals that the City was without power to fix a higher minimum wage than that prescribed by the Labor Law. The fact is that the amendment was first approved by the Legislature in 1962, long before the City enacted the 1962 minimum wage law and, a fortiori, prior to the time when that law was declared invalid by our courts.

The amendment to the Constitution contains, however, no provision requiring or justifying any change in the conclusion reached by the Court of Appeals in regard to the 1962 local minimum wage law.

Counsel for the City point out that the prior constitutional provision prohibited local laws inconsistent with the 'laws of the State', whereas the amendment prohibits local laws inconsistent with 'any general law'. It is argued that the State Minimum Wage Act is not a 'general law', which is defined as a 'law which in terms and in effect applies alike to all counties, all counties other than those wholly included within a city, all cities, all towns or all villages' (Constitution, Art. 9, § 3[d], ), because 'the Industrial Commissioner is authorized to establish a different minimum wage rate for different localities in respect to particular industries.' It seems clear, however, that the Act is a 'general law' in that the provisions for a minimum wage up to $1.25 per hour and for the establishment by the Commissioner of a higher minimum wage for particular occupations, varying with localities, apply alike to all cities and counties. The statute is clearly not a 'special law', which is defined in subdivision (4) of section 3(d) of Article 9 of the Constitution as 'A law which in terms and in effect applies to one or more, but not all, counties, counties other than those...