A Manhattan judge reluctantly handed Mayor Bloomberg a victory over the City Council yesterday, striking down a law it passed over his veto that boosts wages for selected building-service workers.
Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Wright said the council violated state law by enacting the so-called “prevailing wage” law requiring property owners who receive $1 million or more in government subsidies to pay their workers union-level wages.
Although he sided with the city, the judge wasn’t happy about what he had to do under his reading of the law.
“It is with great compunction that this court renders this decision, as this court recognizes the benefits such a law would provide,” Wright said in his decision.
Bloomberg hailed the ruling.
“This ill-conceived legislation threatened some of the most important job-creating projects in the city,” the mayor said.
Administration lawyers argued that the bill is superseded by the state minimum wage and would curtail the mayor’s authority by giving too much power to the city comptroller, who sets the prevailing wage.