Section 213. Acquisition of real property  


Latest version.
  • 1. The superintendent shall from
      time to time establish headquarters or substations in such localities as
      he shall deem most suitable for the efficient performance of police duty
      in the rural sections of the state, and for that purpose and  for  other
      purposes of the division he may, when an appropriation therefor has been
      made by the legislature, acquire, in the name of the people of the state
      of  New York, by lease, purchase, lease-purchase subject to the approval
      of such lease-purchase agreement by  the  director  of  the  budget  or,
      pursuant to the provisions of the eminant domain procedure law, any real
      property  which  he may deem necessary therefor; provided, however, that
      no such real property shall be so acquired by purchase or lease-purchase
      unless the title thereto shall be approved by the attorney general.
        2. Whenever real property is to be acquired pursuant  to  the  eminent
      domain  procedure  law, the superintendent shall cause to be made by the
      state department of transportation an accurate acquisition map.
        3. On the approval of such map by the superintendent of  the  division
      of  state police, the original tracing of such map shall be filed in the
      main office of the division of state police pursuant to  the  provisions
      of the eminent domain procedure law.
        4.  If the superintendent shall determine, prior to the filing of such
      map in the office of the clerk or register of the county, that  changes,
      alterations  or modifications of such map as filed in the main office of
      the division of state police should be made, he or she shall, subject to
      the provisions of article two of the eminent domain  procedure  law,  if
      applicable,  direct  the preparation by the department of transportation
      of an  amended  map.  On  the  approval  of  such  amended  map  by  the
      superintendent,  it shall be filed in the main office of the division of
      state police and the amended map shall thereupon in all respects and for
      all purposes supersede the map previously filed.
        5. If the superintendent shall determine, prior to  the  filing  of  a
      copy  of  such  acquisition  map  in  the  office of the county clerk or
      register as provided in section four hundred two of the  eminent  domain
      procedure  law,  that such map should be withdrawn, he or she may file a
      certificate of withdrawal in the offices of the division of state police
      and of the department of law. Upon the filing  of  such  certificate  of
      withdrawal, the map to which it refers shall be cancelled and all rights
      thereunder shall cease and determine.
        6.  The superintendent shall deliver to the attorney general a copy of
      such acquisition map, whereupon it shall be the  duty  of  the  attorney
      general  to  advise  and  certify to the superintendent the names of the
      owners of the property, easements, interests or rights described in  the
      said  acquisition  map,  including  the  owners  of  any right, title or
      interest therein pursuant to the requirements of  section  four  hundred
      three of the eminent domain procedure law.
        7. If, at or after the vesting of title to such property in the people
      of the state of New York as provided for in the eminent domain procedure
      law,  the superintendent shall deem it necessary to cause the removal of
      an owner or occupant from any real property so acquired,  he  may  cause
      such  owner  or  occupant  to  be  removed  therefrom  by  proceeding in
      accordance  with  section  four  hundred  five  of  the  eminent  domain
      procedure  law.  The  proceeding  shall  be  brought  in the name of the
      superintendent as agent of the state  and  the  attorney  general  shall
      represent  the  petitioner  in the proceedings. No execution shall issue
      for costs, if any, awarded against the state or the superintendent,  but
      they  shall be part of the costs of the acquisition of the real property
      and be paid in like manner.    Proceedings  may  be  brought  separately
      against  one or more of the owners or occupants of any such property, or
      one proceeding may be brought against all or several of  the  owners  or
    
      occupants   of   any   or  all  such  property  within  the  territorial
      jurisdiction of the same court, justice  or  judge;  precepts  or  final
      orders  shall  be  made  for  immediate removal of persons defaulting in
      appearance  or  in  answering,  or  withdrawing  their  answers, if any,
      without awaiting the trial or decision of issues raised by  contestants,
      if any.
        8.  Upon  making  any  agreement provided for in section three hundred
      four of the eminent  domain  procedure  law,  the  superintendent  shall
      deliver  to the comptroller such agreement and a certificate stating the
      amount  due  such  owner  or  owners  thereunder  on  account  of   such
      appropriation of his or their property and the amounts so fixed shall be
      paid  out  of  the  state  treasury  after audit by the comptroller from
      moneys appropriated for the acquisition of such real property,  but  not
      until  there shall have been filed with the comptroller a certificate of
      the attorney general showing the person or persons claiming  the  amount
      so agreed upon to be legally entitled thereto.
        9. Application for reimbursement of incidental expenses as provided in
      section  seven  hundred two of the eminent domain procedure law shall be
      made to the superintendent upon forms prescribed by  him  and  shall  be
      accompanied  by  such information and evidence as the superintendent may
      require. Upon approval of such  application,  the  superintendent  shall
      deliver  a  copy  thereof to the comptroller together with a certificate
      stating the amount due thereof, and the amount so fixed  shall  be  paid
      out  of  the  state  treasury after audit by the comptroller from moneys
      appropriated for the acquisition of property under this section.
        10. The commissioner, with the approval of the director of the budget,
      shall establish and may from time to time amend  rules  and  regulations
      authorizing  the  payment  of  actual  reasonable  and  necessary moving
      expenses of occupants of property acquired pursuant to this section;  of
      actual direct losses of tangible personal property as a result of moving
      or  discontinuing  a  business  or  farm operation, but not exceeding an
      amount equal to the reasonable expenses that would have been required to
      relocate such property, as determined by the  commissioner;  and  actual
      reasonable  expenses in searching for a replacement business or farm; or
      in hardship cases for the advance payment of such expenses  and  losses.
      For  the purposes of making payment of such expenses and losses only the
      term "business"  means  any  lawful  activity  conducted  primarily  for
      assisting  in  the  purchase,  sale,  resale, manufacture, processing or
      marketing of products, commodities, personal property or services by the
      erection and maintenance of an outdoor advertising display or  displays,
      whether  or  not such display or displays are located on the premises on
      which any of the  above  activities  are  conducted.    Such  rules  and
      regulations  may  further  define the terms used in this subdivision. In
      lieu of such actual reasonable and necessary moving expenses,  any  such
      displaced  owner or tenant of residential property may elect to accept a
      moving expense allowance, plus a dislocation  allowance,  determined  in
      accordance  with a schedule prepared by the commissioner and made a part
      of such rules and regulations. In lieu of  such  actual  reasonable  and
      necessary  moving  expenses,  any  such  displaced  owner  or  tenant of
      commercial property who relocates or discontinues his business  or  farm
      operation  may  elect  to accept a fixed relocation payment in an amount
      equal to the average  annual  net  earnings  of  the  business  or  farm
      operation,  except that such payment shall be not less than two thousand
      five hundred dollars nor more than ten thousand dollars.  In the case of
      a business, no such fixed relocation payment shall be  made  unless  the
      commissioner  finds and determines that the business cannot be relocated
      without a substantial loss of  its  existing  patronage,  and  that  the
      business  is  not  part  of  a commercial enterprise having at least one
    
      other establishment, which is not being acquired by  the  state  or  the
      United  States, which is engaged in the same or similar business. In the
      case of a business which  is  to  be  discontinued  but  for  which  the
      findings  and  determinations  set  forth  above  cannot  be  made,  the
      commissioner may prepare an estimate of what the actual  reasonable  and
      necessary moving expenses, exclusive of any storage charges, would be if
      the  business  were  to be relocated and enter into an agreed settlement
      with the owner of such  business  for  an  amount  not  to  exceed  such
      estimate  in  lieu  of  such  actual  reasonable  and  necessary  moving
      expenses. Application for payment under this subdivision shall  be  made
      to   the  commissioner  upon  forms  prescribed  by  him  and  shall  be
      accompanied by such information and evidence  as  the  commissioner  may
      require.  Upon  approval  of  such  application,  the commissioner shall
      deliver a copy thereof to the comptroller together  with  a  certificate
      stating the amount due thereunder, and the amount so fixed shall be paid
      out  of  the  state  treasury after audit by the comptroller from moneys
      appropriated for the acquisition of property under this section. As used
      in  this  subdivision  the  term  "commercial  property"  shall  include
      property  owned  by  an  individual,  family,  partnership, corporation,
      association or a nonprofit organization and includes a  farm  operation.
      As  used  in  this  subdivision  the  term  "business"  means any lawful
      activity, except a farm operation, conducted primarily for the purchase,
      sale, lease and rental of  personal  and  real  property,  and  for  the
      manufacture,  processing,  or marketing of products, commodities, or any
      other personal property; for the sale of services to the public; or by a
      nonprofit organization.
        11.  Authorization  is  hereby  given  to  the  commissioner  to  make
      supplemental  relocation  payments,  separately  computed and stated, to
      displaced owners and tenants of residential property  acquired  pursuant
      to  this  section  who  are  entitled thereto, as determined by him. The
      commissioner, with the approval of  the  director  of  the  budget,  may
      establish  and  from  time to time amend rules and regulations providing
      for such supplemental relocation payments. Such  rules  and  regulations
      may  further  define the terms used in this subdivision.  In the case of
      property acquired pursuant to  this  section  which  is  improved  by  a
      dwelling actually owned and occupied by the displaced owner for not less
      than  one  hundred  eighty  days  immediately  prior  to  initiation  of
      negotiations for the acquisition of such property, such payment to  such
      owner  shall  not exceed fifteen thousand dollars. Such payment shall be
      the amount, if any, which, when added to the acquisition payment  equals
      the  average price, established by the commissioner on a class, group or
      individual basis, required to obtain a comparable  replacement  dwelling
      that  is  decent,  safe and sanitary to accommodate the displaced owner,
      reasonably accessible to public services and places  of  employment  and
      available  on  the  private  market,  but in no event shall such payment
      exceed  the  difference  between  acquisition  payment  and  the  actual
      purchase  price  of the replacement dwelling. Such payment shall include
      an amount which will compensate such displaced owner for  any  increased
      interest  costs  which  such person is required to pay for financing the
      acquisition of any such comparable  replacement  dwelling.  Such  amount
      shall be paid only if the dwelling acquired pursuant to this section was
      encumbered  by  a  bona  fide  mortgage  which  was a valid lien on such
      dwelling for not  less  than  one  hundred  eighty  days  prior  to  the
      initiation  of  negotiations  for the acquisition of such dwelling. Such
      amount shall be equal to the excess in the aggregate interest and  other
      debt  service  costs  of that amount of the principal of the mortgage on
      the replacement dwelling which is equal to the  unpaid  balance  of  the
      mortgage  on  the  acquired  dwelling,  over  the  remainder term of the
    
      mortgage on the acquired dwelling, reduced to discounted present  value.
      The  discount rate shall be the prevailing interest rate paid on savings
      deposits  by  commercial  banks  in  the  general  area  in  which   the
      replacement dwelling is located. Any such mortgage interest differential
      payment shall, notwithstanding the provisions of section twenty-six-b of
      the  general construction law, be in lieu of and in full satisfaction of
      the requirements of such section. Such payment shall include  reasonable
      expenses  incurred  by  such  displaced  owner  for  evidence  of title,
      recording fees and other closing costs incident to the purchase  of  the
      replacement  dwelling,  but not including prepaid expenses. Such payment
      shall be made only to a displaced owner who  purchases  and  occupies  a
      replacement  dwelling which is decent, safe and sanitary within one year
      subsequent to the date on which he is required to move from the dwelling
      acquired pursuant to this section or the date on which he receives  from
      the state final payment of all costs of the acquired dwelling, whichever
      occurs  later,  except  advance  payment  of  such amount may be made in
      hardship cases. In the  case  of  property  acquired  pursuant  to  this
      section  from  which  an individual or family, not otherwise eligible to
      receive a payment pursuant to the above provisions of this  subdivision,
      is  displaced  from  any  dwelling  thereon  which has been actually and
      lawfully occupied by such individual or family for not less than  ninety
      days  immediately  prior  to  the  initiation  of  negotiations  for the
      acquisition of such property, such payment to such individual or  family
      shall not exceed four thousand dollars. Such payment shall be the amount
      which  is necessary to enable such individual or family to lease or rent
      for a period not to exceed four years,  a  decent,  safe,  and  sanitary
      dwelling  of standards adequate to accommodate such individual or family
      in areas not generally less desirable in regard to public utilities  and
      public  and commercial facilities and reasonably accessible to his place
      of employment, but shall not exceed four thousand dollars,  or  to  make
      the  down  payment,  including  reasonable  expenses  incurred  by  such
      individual or family for evidence of title, recording  fees,  and  other
      closing  costs incident to the purchase of the replacement dwelling, but
      not including prepaid expenses, on the purchase of a  decent,  safe  and
      sanitary  dwelling  of standards adequate to accommodate such individual
      or family in areas not generally less  desirable  in  regard  to  public
      utilities  and  public  and  commercial facilities, but shall not exceed
      four thousand dollars,  except  if  such  amount  exceeds  two  thousand
      dollars, such person must equally match any such amount in excess of two
      thousand  dollars, in making the down payment. Such payments may be made
      in installments as  determined  by  the  commissioner.  Application  for
      payment  under  this  subdivision shall be made to the commissioner upon
      forms prescribed by him and shall be accompanied by such information and
      evidence  as  the  commissioner  may  require.  Upon  approval  of  such
      application,  the  commissioner  shall  deliver  a  copy  thereof to the
      comptroller,  together  with  a  certificate  stating  the  amount   due
      thereunder,  and  the  amount  so  fixed  shall be paid out of the state
      treasury after audit by the comptroller from moneys appropriated for the
      acquisition of property under this section.
        12. The owner of any real property so  acquired  may  present  to  the
      court  of  claims, pursuant to section five hundred three of the eminent
      domain procedure law a claim for the value of such property acquired and
      for legal damages caused by such acquisition, as provided by law for the
      filing of claims with the court of claims. Awards and judgments  of  the
      court of claims shall be paid in the same manner as awards and judgments
      of  that  court for the acquisition of lands generally and shall be paid
      out of the state treasury after audit by  the  comptroller  from  moneys
      appropriated for the acquisition of such real property.
    
        13.   If   the   superintendent  shall  determine  subsequent  to  the
      acquisition of a temporary  easement  in  any  real  property  that  the
      purposes   for   which  such  easement  right  was  acquired  have  been
      accomplished and that  the  exercise  of  such  easement  is  no  longer
      necessary,  he  shall  make  his  certificate  that the exercise of such
      easement is  no  longer  necessary  and  that  such  easement  right  is
      therefore  terminated,  released  and  extinguished.  The superintendent
      shall cause such certificate to be filed in the office of the department
      of state and upon such filing all rights acquired by the state  in  such
      property  shall  cease  and  determine. The superintendent shall cause a
      certified copy of such certificate as so filed  in  the  office  of  the
      department  of state to be mailed to the owner of the property affected,
      as certified by the attorney general, if the place of residence of  such
      owner  is  known  or  can be ascertained by a reasonable effort and such
      superintendent shall cause a further certified copy of such  certificate
      to  be  filed  in  the office of the recording officer of each county in
      which the property affected or any part  thereof  is  situated.  On  the
      filing  of  such  certified copy of such certificate with such recording
      officer, it shall be his duty to record the same in his  office  in  the
      books used for recording deeds and to index the same against the name of
      the people of the state of New York as grantor.