What is the test for appealing a preliminary injunction motion for abuse of power?

"We review a district court's denial of a preliminary injunction motion for abuse of discretion. An error of law or fact would constitute an abuse of discretion, but we are nevertheless free to affirm an appealed decision on any ground which finds support in the record." Beal v. Stern, 184 F.3d 117, 122 (2d Cir. 1999) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted).

As the district court correctly observed, where as here a party seeks a preliminary injunction against "government action taken in the public interest," that party must demonstrate "[1]that it will suffer irreparable harm and [2] that it is likely to succeed on the merits." NYCEJA, 50 F. Supp. 2d at 251 (citing Velazquez v. Legal Servs. Corp., 164 F.3d 757 (2d Cir. 1999)). In analyzing the first element in the instant case, the district court decided "as a threshold matter, that plaintiffs ha[d] demonstrated that they may well suffer irreparable harm in the absence of a preliminary injunction." Id. at 252. That conclusion is not disputed on appeal.