As used in this act, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings unless the context shall indicate another or different meaning or intent:
(1) "Bonds" and "notes". The bonds and notes respectively issued by the corporation pursuant to this act.(2) "Comptroller". The comptroller of the state.(3) "Corporation". The corporate governmental agency created by section four of this act.(4) "Housing Company". A company organized pursuant to the provisions of either article two, four, five or eleven of the private housing finance law.(5) "Local Development Corporation". A corporation incorporated or reincorporated pursuant to the provisions of article fourteen of the not-for-profit corporation law.(6) PROJECT: A specific work or improvement including lands, buildings, improvements, real and personal properties or any interest therein, acquired, owned, constructed, reconstructed, rehabilitated or improved by the corporation or any subsidiary thereof, whether or not still owned or financed by the corporation or any subsidiary thereof, including a residential project, an industrial project, a land use improvement project, a civic project, an industrial effectiveness project, a small and medium-sized business assistance project, a fruit growing, fruit processing, or winery business project, or an economic development project, all as defined herein, or any combination thereof, which combination shall hereinafter be called and known as a "multi-purpose project". The term "project" as used herein shall include projects, or any portion of a project. (a) "Residential project". A project or that portion of a multi-purpose project designed and intended for the purpose of providing housing accommodations for persons or families of low income and such facilities as may be incidental or appurtenant thereto.(b) "Industrial project". A project or that portion of a multi-purpose project designed and intended for the purpose of providing facilities for manufacturing, warehousing, research, business or other industrial or commercial purposes, including but not limited to machinery and equipment deemed necessary for the operation thereof (excluding raw material, work in process or stock in trade).(c) "Land Use Improvement project". A plan or undertaking for the clearance, replanning, reconstruction and rehabilitation or a combination of these and other methods, of a substandard and insanitary area, and for recreational or other facilities incidental or appurtenant thereto, pursuant to and in accordance with article eighteen of the constitution and this act. The terms "clearance, replanning, reconstruction and rehabilitation" shall include renewal, redevelopment, conservation, restoration or improvement or any combination thereof as well as the testing and reporting of methods and techniques for the arrest, prevention and elimination of slums and blight.(d) "Civic project". A project or that portion of a multi-purpose project designed and intended for the purpose of providing facilities for educational, cultural, recreational, community, municipal, public service or other civic purposes.(e) "Industrial effectiveness project". A project or that portion of a multi-purpose project designed and intended for the purpose of (i) improving the productivity and competitiveness of an industrial firm or group of industrial firms through such means as, but not limited to, the redesign of production facilities, the introduction of new production processes and management systems, the expansion or diversification of product lines, the development of new markets, and labor and management cooperative efforts to enhance productivity; (ii) implementing a corporate restructuring or turnaround plan for an industrial firm; (iii) effecting the transfer of the ownership and control of a viable industrial firm to its employees, managers or other investors resident in the state; or (iv) enhancing the opportunity for an industrial firm to create or retain jobs, thereby promoting fuller employment and economic development in the state.(f) "Small and medium-sized business assistance project". A project designed and intended for the purpose of providing assistance to industrial firms that employ five hundred or fewer employees within the state on a full-time basis.(g) Economic development project. The acquisition, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or improvement of a project financed pursuant to the empire state economic development fund which will achieve the purposes of facilitating the creation or retention of jobs or increasing business activity within a municipality or region of the state.(h) "fruit growing, fruit processing, or winery business project". A project or that portion of a multi-purpose project designed and intended for the purpose of establishing, maintaining, or expanding fruit growing acreage or operations, or for providing facilities for the production, manufacture, processing, warehousing, research, or distribution and sale of fresh fruits or the processing of such fruits into juices, wines, or other food products. As specified in paragraph (b-1) of subdivision 6 of section 16-l of this act, such project costs may include, but not be limited to, the cost of buildings, machinery, equipment, New York raw fruits, New York unprocessed or partially processed fruits, root stock, other personal property, materials, working capital, or stock in trade required to establish such project. (6)[Not implemented due to defeat of the Jobs for the new, New York bond act in November, 1992] "Project". A specific work or improvement including lands, buildings, improvements, real and personal properties or any interest therein, acquired, owned, constructed, reconstructed, rehabilitated or improved by the corporation or any subsidiary thereof, whether or not still owned or financed by the corporation or any subsidiary thereof, including a residential project, an industrial project, a land use improvement project, a civic project, an industrial effectiveness project, a small and medium-sized business assistance project, or an infrastructure project, all as defined herein, or any combination thereof, which combination shall hereinafter be called and known as a "multi-purpose project". The term "project" as used herein shall include projects, or any portion of a project. (a) "Residential project". A project or that portion of a multi-purpose project designed and intended for the purpose of providing housing accommodations for persons or families of low income and such facilities as may be incidental or appurtenant thereto.(b) "Industrial project". A project or that portion of a multi-purpose project designed and intended for the purpose of providing facilities for manufacturing, warehousing, research, business or other industrial or commercial purposes, including but not limited to machinery and equipment deemed necessary for the operation thereof (excluding raw material, work in process or stock in trade).(c) "Land Use Improvement project". A plan or undertaking for the clearance, replanning, reconstruction and rehabilitation or a combination of these and other methods, of a substandard and insanitary area, and for recreational or other facilities incidental or appurtenant thereto, pursuant to and in accordance with article eighteen of the constitution and this act. The terms "clearance, replanning, reconstruction and rehabilitation" shall include renewal, redevelopment, conservation, restoration or improvement or any combination thereof as well as the testing and reporting of methods and techniques for the arrest, prevention and elimination of slums and blight.(d) "Civic project". A project or that portion of a multi-purpose project designed and intended for the purpose of providing facilities for educational, cultural, recreational, community, municipal, public service or other civic purposes.(e) "Industrial effectiveness project". A project or that portion of a multi-purpose project designed and intended for the purpose of (i) improving the productivity and competitiveness of an industrial firm or a group of industrial firms through such means as, but not limited to, the redesign of production facilities, the introduction of new production processes and management systems, the expansion or diversification of product lines, the development of new markets, and labor and management cooperative efforts to enhance productivity; (ii) implementing a corporate restructuring or turnaround plan for an industrial firm; (iii) effecting the transfer of the ownership and control of a viable industrial firm to its employees, managers or other investors resident in the state; or (iv) enhancing the opportunity for an industrial firm to create or retain jobs, thereby promoting fuller employment and economic development in the state.(f) "Small and medium-sized business assistance project". A project designed and intended for the purpose of providing assistance to industrial firms that employ five hundred or fewer employees within the state on a full-time basis.(g) "Infrastructure project". Capital improvements to publicly-owned real property under the jobs for the new, New York bond act pursuant to article fifteen of the economic development law involving site clearance or preparation or the demolition, construction or reconstruction of basic utilities, systems or facilities, which, while not used directly for the production of goods or services, are required as the foundation for or to promote, stimulate or support economic activity resulting in the retention or creation of permanent private-sector jobs.(7) "Project cost". The sum total of all costs incurred by the corporation in carrying out all works and undertakings which the corporation deems reasonable and necessary for the development of a project. These shall include but are not necessarily limited to the costs of all necessary studies, surveys, plans and specifications, architectural, engineering or other special services, acquisition of land and any buildings thereon, site preparation and development, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, improvement and the acquisition of such machinery and equipment as may be deemed necessary in connection therewith (other than raw materials, work in process or stock in trade); the necessary expenses incurred in connection with the initial occupancy of the project; an allocable portion of the administrative and operating expenses of the corporation; the cost of financing the project, including interest on bonds and notes issued by the corporation to finance the project from the date thereof to the date when the corporation shall determine that the project be deemed substantially occupied; and the cost of such other items, including any indemnity and surety bonds and premiums on insurance, legal fees, fees and expenses of trustees, depositories and paying agents for the bonds and notes issued by the corporation; and relocation costs, all as the corporation shall deem necessary.(8) "Real property". Lands, structures, franchises and interests in land, including lands under water and riparian rights, space rights and air rights and any and all other things and rights usually included within said term. Real property shall also mean and include any and all interests in such property less than full title, such as easements, incorporeal hereditaments and every estate, interest or right, legal or equitable, including terms for years and liens thereon by way of judgments, mortgages or otherwise, and also all claims for damages for such real estate.(9) "State". The state of New York.(10) "State agency". Any officer, department, board, commission, bureau, division, public corporation, agency or instrumentality of the state.(11) "Subsidiary". A corporation created in accordance with section twelve of this act.(12) "Substandard or insanitary area". The term "substandard or insanitary area" shall mean and be interchangeable with a slum, blighted, deteriorated or deteriorating area, or an area which has a blighting influence on the surrounding area, whether residential, non-residential, commercial, industrial, vacant or land in highways, waterways, railway and subway tracks and yards, bridge and tunnel approaches and entrances, or other similar facilities, over which air rights and easements or other rights of user necessary for the use and development of such air rights, to be developed as air rights sites for the elimination of the blighting influence, or any combination thereof and may include land, buildings or improvements, or air rights and concomitant easements or other rights of user necessary for the use and development of such air rights not in themselves substandard or insanitary.(13) "Municipality." Any county, city, town or village.(14) "Local governing body". The board of supervisors, county legislature, board of aldermen, common council, commission, or other elective governing board or body now or hereafter vested by state statute, charter or other law with jurisdiction to initiate and adopt local law whether or not such local laws or ordinances require the approval of the elective chief executive officer or other official or body to become effective, and except that with respect to a city having a population of one million or more the term "local governing body" shall mean the board of estimate.(15) "Public corporation". A municipal corporation, district corporation, or public benefit corporation, as all such terms are defined in section three of the general corporation law, or any agency or instrumentality of the foregoing.(16) "New community." A plan or undertaking for the development of housing together with such civic, industrial and commercial facilities and other ancillary facilities as the corporation may determine necessary, including the implementation thereof through one or more projects of the corporation and through such participation by private enterprise as may be necessary or desirable to carry out the development of such new community.(17) "Eligible business". For purposes of section sixteen-a of this act, a business that is resident in this state, and employs one hundred or less persons on a full-time basis.(18) "Regional corporation". For purposes of section sixteen-a of this act, a not-for-profit or public benefit corporation or consortium of such entities that has formed a not-for-profit corporation, that has jurisdiction within at least two entire contiguous counties.(19) "Minority business enterprise". A business enterprise which is at least fifty-one percent owned, or in the case of a publicly-owned business at least fifty-one percent of the common stock or other voting interests of which is owned, by one or more minority persons and such ownership interest is real, substantial and continuing. The minority ownership must have and exercise the authority to independently control the day-to-day business decisions of the entity. Minority persons shall mean persons who are:(b) Hispanic persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban, Central or South American descent of either Indian or Hispanic origin, regardless of race;(c) Asian and Pacific Islander persons having origins in the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian sub-continent or the Pacific Islands; or(d) American Indian or Alaskan Native persons having origins in any of the original peoples of North America and maintaining identifiable tribal affiliations through membership and participation or community identification.(20) "Women business enterprise". A business enterprise which is at least fifty-one percent owned, or in the case of a publicly-owned business at least fifty-one percent of the common stock or other voting interests of which is owned, by United States citizens or permanent resident noncitizens who are women, regardless of race or ethnicity, and such ownership interest is real, substantial and continuing and such women have and exercise the authority to independently control the day to day business decisions of the enterprises.(21) "Industrial firm". A manufacturing firm involved with extracting, smelting, recovering, developing, preparing, compounding, converting, assembling or producing in any manner minerals, raw materials, products or substances of any kind or nature, and shall include facilities related thereto for storage, warehousing or distribution, for research and development or for the discovery of new, and the refinement of known, substances, processes and products.(22) "Eligible reservist". A member of a reserve component of the armed forces ordered to active duty during a period of military conflict.(23) "Owner, manager or key employee". A person who:(a) has at least a twenty percent ownership interest in the small or medium-sized business; or(b) is a manager responsible for the day-to-day operations of such small or medium-sized business concern; or(c) is an employee of such small or medium-sized business concern with a significant responsibility whose duties cannot be assumed by another person without substantial impairment to the economic health of the business, as determined by the corporation.(24) "Period of military conflict". A period:(a) of war declared by the Congress; or(b) of national emergency declared by the Congress or by the President; or(c) in which a member of a reserve component of the armed forces is ordered to active duty pursuant to section 673b of title 10 of the United States Code.(25) "Upstate Empire State Development Corporation" shall be defined for purposes of sections sixteen-q and sixteen-s of this act, as a subsidiary of the urban development corporation established under section twelve of this act.(26) "Upstate Chairman" shall be defined for purposes of sections sixteen-q and sixteen-s of this act, as the chairman of the upstate empire state development corporation, a subsidiary of the urban development corporation established under section twelve of this act.(27) "Downstate" shall be defined by the chairman subject to approval by the board of directors of the urban development corporation.(28) "Upstate" shall be defined by the chairman, in consultation with the chairman of the upstate empire state development corporation, subject to approval by the board of directors of the urban development corporation.(29) "Upstate Agricultural Economic Development Project." For purposes of section sixteen-s of this act, a project or that portion of a multi-purpose project shall be designed and intended for the purpose of establishing, maintaining, or expanding agricultural acreage or operations, or for providing facilities and/or markets for the production, manufacturing, processing, warehousing, laboratory diagnostics, research, or distribution and sale of crops, livestock and livestock products as defined in subdivision 2 of section 301 of the agriculture and markets law. Such project costs may include, but not be limited to, the cost of land, buildings, machinery, equipment, processed or partially processed agricultural commodities, root stock, livestock, other personal property, materials, working capital, or stock in trade required to establish such project.(30) "Energy conservation and efficiency projects." A project or that portion of a multi-purpose project designed and intended for the purpose of reducing energy consumption and improving energy efficiency of building envelopes, building systems or manufacturing or industrial systems by retrofitting or modernizing manufacturing, industrial or commercial facilities. Energy conservation and efficiency projects may include, but not be limited to: (a) energy audits performed by an energy auditor approved by the New York state energy research and development authority as defined in section eighteen hundred fifty-one of the public authorities law; (b) insulation of the building structure or systems within the building; (c) windows or doors, caulking or weather stripping, multi-glazed windows or doors, heat absorbing or heat reflective glazed and coated window or door systems, additional glazing, reductions in glass area or other window and door system modifications that reduce energy consumption; (d) automated or computerized energy control systems; (e) heating, ventilating or air conditioning system modifications or replacements; (f) replacement or modification of lighting fixtures to increase the energy efficiency of the lighting system without increasing the overall illumination of a facility, unless an increase in illumination is necessary to conform to the applicable state or local building code or nationally accepted standards for the lighting system after the proposed modifications are made; (g) energy recovery systems; (h) solar energy generating or heating and cooling systems or other renewable energy systems; (i) cogeneration or combined heat and power systems that produce steam, chilled water or forms of energy such as heat, as well as electricity, for use primarily within a building or complex of buildings; (j) energy conservation measures that provide long-term operating cost reductions; and (k) maintenance and operation of mechanical systems that provide long-term operating cost reductions.N.Y. urban development corporation act Law § 3
Amended by New York Laws 2022, ch. 669,Sec. 101, eff. 12/9/2022.