Executive Order Broadens Reach of New York City’s Living Wage Act

On September 30, 2014, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed an executive order expanding the reach of the City’s Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act as it applies in economic development transactions. Most importantly, the order extends coverage of living wage requirements to tenants of projects that receive financial assistance of more than $1 million irrespective of the tenant’s ownership and increases the living wage rate from $11.90 per hour to $13.13 per hour. Over the past decade, many major economic development projects undertaken in the city have received some form of City financial assistance. By extending the living wage requirements to most tenants in these types of projects, the order will have implications for the structuring of future economic development deals.