(January 11, 2023, 2:09 PM EST) -- NEW YORK — In briefs before the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, the owner of a hotel argues that a New York City law enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic is preempted and violates the Constitution’s contracts clause, and the city and related defendants contend that owner has “established neither that it would suffer irreparable harm absent injunctive relief, nor a clear likelihood of success on the merits of its claims, nor that the balance of equities favors enjoining the local law.”...