New York Attorney General Letitia James and city Comptroller Brad Lander on Monday announced a nearly $230,000 settlement with the managers of a Manhattan condo building and a private security firm for underpaying its workers.
A joint city and state investigation found that Allied Universal Security Services had for years been underpaying its security guards at 540 W. 28th St. — a luxe condo called +Art, which in 2011 received a 421-a affordable-housing tax break — some of them to the tune of about $30,000 each between 2016 and 2019.
“For years, Allied Universal swindled their workers out of their hard-earned wages while the owners of the building where they worked benefited from a lucrative tax break. Now, these workers will finally be paid what they are owed,” James said in a statement.
The owners of the 91-unit building between Tenth and Eleventh avenues had contracted with the private security and staffing company and were required to pay its service employees a prevailing wage of $23.75 — as of 2017 — set at the time by the comptroller’s office, due to the project’s tax-exemption status. But the board of managers at the 24-hour doorman-staffed condo, which boasts swanky amenities such as a landscaped roof terrace with a wet bar and grill and a state-of-the-art gym, failed to ensure that happened.
Kimberly Hoover, who is listed as the president of the board of managers, according to the settlement, did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
As restitution, the Pennsylvania-and-California-based Allied Universal will cough up a total of $229,718 — including interest — which will be distributed amongst the seven affected employees.
Allied Universal is also on the hook for conducting an audit of all of its contracts in the five boroughs, and must certify to James’s office every year that it’s paying employees fairly at its other properties that benefit from a 421-a tax break.
Allied Universal did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Julianne Cuba , 2024-04-01 23:01:09
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