Opinion ID: 746828
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Public Improvement Lien

Text: 3 The present action arises out of a project for the construction of Townsend Harris High School in Queens, New York. In February 1992 defendant general contractor E.W. Howell Co., Inc. (Howell) entered into a contract with the New York City School Construction Authority for the construction of the school. Howell subcontracted out certain plumbing work for the project to Alumni Plumbing & Heating Co., Inc. (Alumni). In December 1993 Alumni defaulted on the fringe benefits obligations it owed under a multiemployer collective bargaining agreement with the Board, allegedly in part because Howell refused to pay the amounts it owed to Alumni under the subcontract. Alumni thereafter filed for bankruptcy. 4 In June 1994 the Board, as trustee of the union benefits plan, filed a public improvement lien under Lien Law § 5 in the amount of $160,000 against the funds appropriated to pay for the construction of the high school. To discharge the lien, Howell posted a surety bond issued by defendant American Home Assurance Co., Inc. (American).