Section 5233. Sale of personal property

(a) Public auction.  The interest
  of the judgment debtor  in  personal  property  obtained  by  a  sheriff
  pursuant  to  execution  or order, other than legal tender of the United
  States, shall be sold by the sheriff at public auction at such time  and
  place  and  as a unit or in such lots, or combination thereof, as in his
  judgment will bring the highest price, but no sale may be made  to  that
  sheriff or to his deputy or undersheriff.  The property shall be present
  and within the view of those attending the sale unless otherwise ordered
  by the court.
    (b) Public notice.  A printed notice of the time and place of the sale
  shall be posted at least six days before the sale in three public places
  in  the  town or city in which the sale is to be held, provided however,
  in the city of  New  York,  in  lieu  of  posting  such  notice  may  be
  advertised  in  the  auction  columns of any morning newspaper published
  daily and Sunday in such  city  an  edition  of  which  appears  on  the
  newsstands  the  previous  night  and has a circulation of not less than
  three hundred thousand. An omission to so post or advertise  notice,  or
  the defacing or removal of a posted notice, does not affect the title of
  a purchaser without notice of the omission or offense.
    (c)  Order  for  immediate sale or disposition.   The court may direct
  immediate sale or other disposition of property with or  without  notice
  if the urgency of the case requires.
    (d)  Unsaleable  material.  If  property  seized  by  the  sheriff  is
  considered by him to be material which, by law,  may  not  be  sold,  he
  shall  apply  to  the court for a determination whether the property can
  legally be sold. Reasonable notice of such  application  shall  also  be
  given  to the owner of such property.  If the court decides the property
  may not be legally sold, it shall order appropriate disposition  of  the
  property which may include its destruction.