New York Laws
Title 1 - Power Authority of the State of New York
1007 - Acquisition of Property.

§ 1007. Acquisition of property. If, for any of the purposes
hereunder, including temporary construction purposes and the making of
additions or improvements, the authority shall find it necessary or
convenient for it to acquire any real property as herein defined,
whether for immediate or future use, then the authority may find and
determine that such property is required for a public use, and upon such
due determination, such property shall be and shall be deemed to be
required for such public use until otherwise determined by the authority
and with the exceptions hereinafter specifically noted such
determination of fact shall not be affected by the fact that such
property has theretofore been taken for, or is then devoted to, a public
use; but the public use in the hands or under the control of the
authority shall be deemed superior to the public use in the hands of any
other person, association or corporation. If the authority is unable to
agree for the acquirement of any such property, or if the owner thereof
shall be incapable of disposing of the same, or if, after diligent
search and inquiry, the name and residence of any such owner cannot be
ascertained, or if any such property has been acquired or attempted to
be acquired and title or other rights therein have been found to be
invalid or defective, the authority may acquire such property by
condemnation under and pursuant to the provisions of this title.

1. When any real property within this state is sought to be acquired
by condemnation, the authority shall cause a survey and map to be made
thereof, and shall cause such survey and map to be filed in its office.
There shall be annexed to such survey and map a certificate executed by
the chief engineer of the authority, or by such other officer or
employee as may be designated by the trustees, stating that the property
or interest therein described in such survey and map are necessary for
its purposes.

2. Upon filing such survey and map the authority shall petition a
special term of the supreme court held in the judicial district in which
the property is located, or the county court of any county where such
property is located, for the condemnation of such property or interest
therein, as have not been otherwise acquired. Such petition shall be
generally in the form prescribed by section four of the condemnation
law, so far as consistent herewith. Such petition, together with a
notice of pendency of the proceeding, shall be filed in the office of
the county clerk of such county and shall be indexed and recorded as
provided by law. A copy of such petition together with a notice of the
presentation thereof to such special term of the supreme court or to the
county court shall be served upon the owners as provided in sections
five and six of the condemnation law. The authority may cause a
duplicate original affidavit of the service thereof to be recorded in
the books used for recording deeds in the office of the county clerk of
the county wherein the property described in such notice is situated,
and the recording of such affidavit shall be prima facie evidence of due
service thereof.

3. At any time after the recording of the petition and notice as above
provided the authority may enter upon and use and occupy all the parcels
of real estate described in the proceedings for the condemnation
thereof, provided that it shall first deposit with the court a sum equal
to the assessed valuation of such real property, or in the event that
the assessed valuation thereof cannot readily be ascertained, such sum
as in its judgment shall be sufficient as compensation for the real
property acquired. The sum so deposited shall be applied as provided in
section twenty-four of the condemnation law. Upon the recording of the
petition and notice and the making of the deposit, the owner or person
in possession of such real property shall deliver possession thereof to

the authority upon demand, and in case possession is not delivered when
demanded, or demand is not convenient because of absence of the owner or
inability to locate or determine the owner, the authority may apply to
the court without notice for an order requiring the sheriff to put it
into possession of such real property. Such an order must be executed as
if it were an execution for the delivery of the possession of the
property.

4. The proceedings thereafter shall be in the manner prescribed by the
condemnation law so far as consistent herewith.

5. The commissioners appointed to ascertain and determine the
compensation which ought justly to be made to the owners of property or
interests therein appraised by them as provided in section thirteen of
the condemnation law shall make their report of the value thereof to the
supreme court within one hundred days from the date of their
qualification.

6. The persons or corporations whose property shall have been taken by
condemnation and who shall have agreed upon the compensation to be paid
therefor in settlement of the proceeding, or to whom an award of
compensation shall have been made by the court, shall be entitled to
payment of the agreed or awarded compensation within three calendar
months after the date of the agreement upon the amount of the
compensation or of the entry of the order confirming the report of the
commissioners of appraisal, together with interest upon the amount of
such compensation from the time of the entry and appropriation thereof
by the authority, to the date of payment of such compensation; but such
interest shall cease upon the service by the authority, upon the person
or corporation entitled thereto, of a fifteen days' notice that the
authority is ready and willing to pay the amount of such compensation
upon the presentation of proper proofs and vouchers. Such notice shall
be served personally or by registered mail and publication thereof at
least once a week for three successive weeks in a daily newspaper,
having a general circulation in the county where such property or any
part thereof is located.

7. The authority may, at its option, acquire such real property within
the state of New York, under the general condemnation law or, in the
event it is a licensee of the federal power commission it may acquire
such real property as is necessary for its purposes through the exercise
of the right of eminent domain as provided in section twenty-one of the
federal power act, as amended.

8. The authority and its duly authorized agents and employees may
enter upon any real property for the purpose of making the surveys or
maps mentioned in this section, or for such other surveys or
examinations of real property as may be necessary or convenient for the
purposes of this title.

9. The term "real property" as used in this title is defined to
include lands, structures, franchises and interests in land, including
lands under water and riparian rights, and any and all other things and
rights usually included within the said term, and includes also any and
all interests in such property less than full title, such as easements,
rights of way, uses, leases, licenses and all other incorporeal
hereditaments and every estate, interest or right, legal or equitable,
including terms for years and liens thereon by way of judgments,
mortgages or otherwise, and also all claims for damages for such real
estate.

10. The authority may determine what real property is reasonably
necessary for the construction or operation of any project authorized by
this title including transmission facilities. If funds are made
available by the authority to the state for payment of the cost and

expense of the acquisition thereof, the commissioner of transportation,
when requested by the authority, shall acquire such real property in the
name of the state by appropriation and, where necessary, remove the
owner or occupant thereof and obtain possession, according to the
procedure provided by section thirty of the highway law, insofar as the
same may be applicable. The authority shall have the right to possess
and use for its corporate purposes, so long as its corporate existence
shall continue, all such real property and rights in real property so
acquired.

Claims for the value of the property appropriated and for legal
damages caused by any such appropriation shall be adjusted and
determined by the commissioner with the approval of the authority, or by
the court of claims as provided in said section thirty. When a claim has
been filed with the court of claims, the claimant shall cause a copy of
such claim to be served upon the authority and the authority shall have
the right to be represented and heard before said court. All awards and
judgements arising from such claims shall be paid out of moneys of the
authority.

The authority may determine whether any property appropriated pursuant
to this section, while under its jurisdiction, should be sold or
exchanged in whole or in part, on terms beneficial to the state and the
authority, and in all cases where such a determination is made, the
authority may sell or exchange such property. Where the authority finds
it practicable and reasonable, the former owner, from whom the property
was appropriated, his heirs, successors in interest and assigns, shall
be given the first opportunity to purchase such property at its fair
market value. In order to carry any such sale or exchange into effect
the authority is hereby authorized to execute and deliver in the name of
the people of the state a quit claim of such property. Money proceeds of
any such sale shall be retained by the authority. Title to property
received upon such exchange shall be acquired in the name of the state,
and the authority shall have the same rights of occupation and use
thereof and shall be vested with the same rights with respect thereto as
is provided in this section and in section one thousand eight as to
property of the state. Where property appropriated pursuant to this
section is required by the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development
Corporation, created pursuant to public law three hundred fifty-eight of
the 83rd Congress, or any successor corporation, the authority may
convey such property to such corporation, and, if the license issued to
the authority by the federal power commission shall so require, such
conveyance may be made without consideration.

The attorney general is hereby authorized and empowered to certify to
such Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, the right, title or
interest vested in the name of the people of the state of New York in
and to property appropriated pursuant to this section and proposed to be
conveyed to such Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation as
hereinbefore provided.