Section 11-2115. Returns to be secret

a. Except in accordance with proper
  judicial order, or as otherwise provided by law, it  shall  be  unlawful
  for the commissioner of finance, register or tax appeals tribunal or any
  officer  or  employee  of  the  department  of  finance, register or tax
  appeals tribunal to divulge or make known in any manner any  information
  contained in or relating to any return provided for by this chapter. The
  officers  charged with the custody of such returns shall not be required
  to produce any of them or evidence of anything contained in them in  any
  action  or proceeding in any court, except on behalf of the commissioner
  of finance in an action or  proceeding  under  the  provisions  of  this
  chapter,  or on behalf of any party to an action or proceeding under the
  provisions of this chapter when the returns or facts shown  thereby  are
  directly  involved  in  such  action  or  proceeding, in either of which
  events the court may  require  the  production  of,  and  may  admit  in
  evidence,  so much of said returns or of the facts shown thereby, as are
  pertinent to the action or proceeding and no more. Nothing herein  shall
  be  construed to prohibit the delivery to a grantor or grantee of a deed
  or to any subsequent owner of the real property conveyed by such deed or
  to the duly authorized representative of any of them of a certified copy
  of any return filed in connection with the tax  on  such  deed;  nor  to
  prohibit  the delivery of such a certified copy of such return or of any
  information contained in or relating thereto to  the  United  States  of
  America  or  any  department  thereof,  the  state  of  New  York or any
  department thereof, the city of  New  York  or  any  department  thereof
  provided the same is required for official business; nor to prohibit the
  inspection  for  official  business of such returns by the register, the
  corporation counsel or other legal representatives of the city or by the
  district attorney of any county within the city;  nor  to  prohibit  the
  publication of statistics so classified as to prevent the identification
  of particular returns or items thereof.
    b.  (1) Any officer or employee of the city who willfully violates the
  provisions of subdivision a of this  section  shall  be  dismissed  from
  office  and be incapable of holding any public office in this city for a
  period of five years thereafter.
    (2) Cross-reference: For criminal penalties, see chapter forty of this
  title.
    c. This section shall be  deemed  a  state  statute  for  purposes  of
  paragraph  (a)  of subdivision two of section eighty-seven of the public
  officers law.
    d. Notwithstanding anything in subdivision a of this  section  to  the
  contrary,  if  a  taxpayer  has  petitioned the tax appeals tribunal for
  administrative review as provided in section one hundred seventy of  the
  charter,  the  commissioner of finance shall be authorized to present to
  the tribunal any report or return of such taxpayer, or  any  information
  contained therein or relating thereto, which may be material or relevant
  to the proceeding before the tribunal. The tax appeals tribunal shall be
  authorized  to  publish  a  copy  or  a summary of any decision rendered
  pursuant to section one hundred seventy-one of the charter.
    e. This section shall not apply to any  information  contained  in  or
  relating  to  a  return  filed on or after the first day of January, two
  thousand three with respect to a transaction or transfer occurring on or
  after that date; provided, however, that this section shall continue  to
  apply  to  any social security account number contained in any report or
  return pursuant to this chapter.