Opinion
April 7, 1998
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Herman Cahn, J.).
The causes of action based on the trust fund provisions of the Lien Law are preempted by the Miller Act, there being no dispute that the funds sought to be impressed were derived from contracts for a Federal construction project, and there being no proof that the United States has waived its immunity with respect to this project (I. Burack, Inc. v. Simpson Factors Corp., 21 A.D.2d 481, affd 16 N.Y.2d 604; compare, Wright v. U.S. Postal Serv., 29 F.3d 1426, 1430-1431). Plaintiff's proposed cause of action against the general contractor for unjust enrichment was properly rejected as an unjustified attempt to compel the general contractor to answer for the subcontractor's debt. It is not enough that the general contractor received a benefit from the services plaintiff performed at the subcontractor's behest (see, Kagan v. K-Tel Entertainment, 172 A.D.2d 375, 376).
Concur — Sullivan, J.P., Williams, Tom and Andrias, JJ.