Terms Used In New York Laws > General Municipal > Article 5 - Powers, Limitations and Liabilities

• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Alternative revenues: means (i) sales and compensating use taxes that the city is authorized by the state to impose and (ii) taxes imposed pursuant to § 1107 of the tax law. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BB
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Bonds: means bonds, notes and other evidences of indebtedness, issued by the authority. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BB
• Capital financing need: means a period during which and only the extent to which the issuance of bonds in accordance with this title would assist the city in meeting its capital needs as determined by the mayor pursuant to section twenty-seven hundred ninety-nine-ff of this title. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BB
• City: means the city of New York. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BB
• City: shall mean the city of New York;
  
  2. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BBBB
• Commissioner: shall mean the commissioner of homes and community renewal;
  
  3. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BBBB
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Comptroller: means the comptroller of the city. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BB
• Construction item: means any such item or material used in construction and which is procured directly by the public authority or office or any such item or material commonly used in construction which is procured by a person, other than a municipality, under contract with the public authority or office. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2875-A
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: shall mean the Roosevelt Island operating corporation created by this section;
  
  4. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BBBB
• costs: means costs, appropriated in the capital budget of the city pursuant to chapters nine and ten of the New York city charter, as amended from time to time, providing for the construction, reconstruction, acquisition or installation of physical public betterments or improvements, or the costs of any preliminary studies, surveys, maps, plans, estimates and hearings, or incidental costs, including, but not limited to, legal fees, printing or engraving, publication of notices, taking of title, apportionment of costs, and interest during construction, or any underwriting or other costs incurred in connection with the financing thereof. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BB
• Council: means the council of the city. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BB
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Development subleases: shall mean (a) the sublease dated August first, nineteen hundred eighty between the urban development corporation and the city, (b) the ground lease, dated October thirtieth, nineteen hundred seventy-two, between the urban development corporation and North Town Phase II Houses, Inc. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BBBB
• director: as used in this title shall include such alternates, except that no alternate may designate an alternate pursuant to this subdivision. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-DD
• Director of management and budget: means the director of management and budget of the city. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BB
• Division: shall mean the New York state division of housing and community renewal;
  
  6. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BBBB
• Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• Judgement: The official decision of a court finally determining the respective rights and claims of the parties to a suit.
• Juror: A person who is on the jury.
• Lease: shall mean the lease, dated December twenty-third, nineteen hundred sixty-nine, as heretofore or hereafter amended, among the city of New York, the New York state urban development corporation and the Roosevelt Island development corporation, pursuant to which the city leased substantially all of Roosevelt Island to the New York state urban development corporation for development substantially in accordance with the development plan referred to therein;
  
  7. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BBBB
• Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Mayor: means the mayor of the city. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BB
• New York city transitional finance authority: means the public benefit corporation created by this title. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BB
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Office: means the office of general services. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2875-A
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Practicable: means capable of being used without violating the following criteria: performance, availability at a reasonable price, availability within a reasonable period of time and maintenance of a satisfactory level of competition. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2875-A
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Product: means any material, supply, equipment or construction item or other item whether real or personal property which is the subject of any purchase, barter, or other exchange made to procure such product. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2875-A
• Public corporation: means and includes the city, the state and every public corporation as defined in the general construction law. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BB
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Ranking minority member: The highest ranking (and usually longest serving) minority member of a committee or subcommittee.
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Revenues: means the tax revenues and all aid, rents, fees, charges, payments and other income and receipts paid or payable to the authority or a trustee for the account of the authority. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BB
• Roosevelt Island: shall mean the island located in the east river, city and county of New York, extending from approximately fiftieth street to eighty-sixth street in Manhattan;
  
  8. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BBBB
• Secondary materials: means any material recovered from or otherwise destined for the waste stream, including but not limited to, post-consumer material, industrial scrap material, and overstock or obsolete inventories from distributors, wholesalers and other companies as defined in rules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner of general services but such term does not include those materials and byproducts generated from, and commonly reused within an original manufacturing process. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2875-A
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Speaker: means the speaker of the council, elected pursuant to the rules of the council. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BB
• Specification: means any description of the physical or functional characteristics, or of the nature of a material, supply, equipment or construction item. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2875-A
• State: means the state of New York. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BB
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Tramway franchise: shall mean the franchise for the Roosevelt Island tramway granted by the city to the urban development corporation on February nineteenth, nineteen hundred seventy-four; and
  
  10. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BBBB
• Uniform Commercial Code: A set of statutes enacted by the various states to provide consistency among the states' commercial laws. It includes negotiable instruments, sales, stock transfers, trust and warehouse receipts, and bills of lading. ^{Source: OCC}
• Urban development corporation: shall mean the New York state urban development corporation and any successor agency. See N.Y. Public Authorities Law 2799-BBBB
• User fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the legislature determines whether the revenue should go into the treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.