FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JANUARY 9, 2020 • QUEENS BUSINESS • THE QUEENS COURIER 29
queens business
Cuomo vetoes Queens senator’s
wage theft bill, citing technicalities
BY MAX PARROTT
mparrott@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
On New Year’s day, Gov. Andrew
Cuomo vetoed a bill that proposed to
make it easier for workers awarded wage
theft judgements to collect their money.
Th e SWEAT (Securing Wages Earned
Against Th eft ) bill, introduced by Jackson
Heights State Senator Jessica Ramos and
Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal of the
Upper West Side, would have allowed
employees from all industries to freeze the
assets of the employer while their wage
theft case is pending to ensure the money
is there when the case is over.
Cuomo’s veto message explained though
“no administration has been more aggressive
on wage theft than ours,” he had due
process concerns about the type of lien
enforcement included in the bill. It is the
third Ramos-sponsored bill that he has
vetoed in a week span.
“We are deeply disappointed by the
veto of the SWEAT bill, which would give
employees a fi ghting chance to collect
wages that are owed to them,” Rosenthal
and Ramos said in a joint statement.
Th e legislation addressed the obstacles
that the millions of New York state residents
who are estimated to lose money to
wage theft per year face in recouping their
losses. Employers charged with wage theft
have fi led for bankruptcy, changed their
State Senator Jessica Ramos
business name or transferred ownership
to another individual who was not on the
hook for the wage theft claim as a means
of dodging payment.
Th e bill sought to expand New York’s
lien law to workers of all industries in
order to make it easier to freeze the assets
of employers accused of wage theft in the
duration of a lawsuit.
Cuomo wrote that he was concerned
that the bill would not require judicial
review or notice to be sent to the employer
before the lien was fi led. Th e veto message
continued to say that Cuomo supported
the intent of the bill, but that these
technicalities raised alarms that a court
might fi nd the law unconstitutional.
Th e statement ended by saying that
Cuomo would propose legislation that
would allow “any victim of wage theft
utilize any and all assets, even personal
assets, of the bad actor to ensure satisfaction
of judgments for victims” in his executive
budget.
Meanwhile, Ramos and Rosenthal
wrote that the SWEAT Coalition will continue
fi ghting for the bill in 2020.
Flushing window shop recognized for green product line
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com
A Flushing-based window and door
manufacturer was recognized for its work
in the latest issue of an acclaimed industry
publication.
In the December 2019 edition of US
Glass Magazine, Crystal Window &
Door Systems’s product line, the Crystal
Magnus Series 4500 uPVC Commercial
Vinyl Window, was declared the winner
in the window and door category of
the magazine’s annual “Readers’ Choice
Awards.”
Th e US Glass Readers’ Choice Awards
are determined by subscriber online
votes across the nation and internationally
during November of the most impressive
new products featured in the publication
during the year. Crystal Window
& Door Systems was a previous Readers’
Choice Award winner in the window and
door category in 2016 with its aluminum
8500/8600 projected window line.
“Th e Crystal Magnus Series 4500 window
uses a specially formulated vinyl
extrusion material and compression seal
technology to create a remarkable window,”
said Sabrina Leung, Crystal’s R&D/
Architectural Sales Manager. “It has the
structural strength to span large openings
and be used in mid-rise buildings
like a top aluminum frame window, yet
simultaneously provides the extraordinary
thermal performance of a vinyl
window, as well as superior sound abatement.”
Th e Crystal Magnus Series 4500 window
line is available in tilt-and-turn,
in-swing casement, hopper, fi xed and
swing door styles. Th ough it is a relatively
new addition to the Crystal product
line, it has been increasingly popular
with new construction projects striving
for environmental sustainability. Th e window
line can achieve AW-PG70 structural
ratings, STC sound attenuation levels of
41db and thermal U-values as low as 0.20.
For more information about the Crystal
Magnus Series 4500 window, visit crystalwindows.
com. Photo courtesy of Livingston Affi liates
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
link
link
link
