New York Laws
Article 21 - Start-Up Ny Program
432 - Eligibility Criteria for Universities and Colleges.

(i) any vacant space in any building located on a campus of a state
university campus, community college or city university campus;
(ii) any vacant land on a campus of a state university campus,
community college or city university campus;
(iii) for a state university campus or community college, a total of
two hundred thousand square feet of vacant land or vacant building space
that, except as provided under paragraph (b) of this subdivision, is
located within one mile of a campus of the state university campus or
community college; provided that this subparagraph shall not apply to a
state university campus or community college located in Nassau county,
Suffolk county or Westchester county; and
(iv) a New York state incubator as the term is used in subdivision
four of section four hundred thirty-three of this article with a bona
fide affiliation to the state university campus, community college or
city university campus, with approval of the commissioner. In order for
there to be a bona fide affiliation of a New York state incubator with a
state university campus, community college or city university campus,
the incubator and the state university campus, community college or city
university campus must have a partnership to provide assistance and
physical space to eligible businesses, as the term is used in section
sixteen-v of the urban development corporation act; the incubator and
the state university campus, community college or city university campus
must directly work towards the goals of jointly creating jobs and
incubating new startup businesses; and the mission and activities of the
incubator must align with or further the academic mission of the state
university campus, community college or city university campus.
(b) A state university campus or community college which qualifies
under subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (a) of this subdivision may apply
to the commissioner for a determination that identified vacant land or
identified vacant space in a building that is located more than one mile
from its campus, and is not located in Nassau county, Suffolk county,
Westchester county or New York city, is eligible land for purposes of
this program. The commissioner shall give consideration to factors
including rural, suburban and urban geographic considerations and may
qualify the identified land or space in a building as eligible land if
the commissioner, in consultation with the chancellor or his or her
designee, determines that the state university campus or community
college has shown that the use of the land or space will be consistent
with the requirements of this program and the plan submitted by the
state university campus or community college pursuant to section four
hundred thirty-five of this article. In addition, two hundred thousand
square feet of vacant land or vacant building space affiliated with or
in partnership with Maritime College shall be eligible under this
paragraph. The aggregate amount of qualified land or space under this
paragraph and subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (a) of this subdivision
may not exceed two hundred thousand square feet for a state university
campus or community college.
(c) The provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdivision shall
apply only to:
(i) a state university campus other than the following: (A) any empire
state college campus except for the empire state college campus in
Saratoga Springs, (B) any property of downstate medical center located
in Nassau county, Suffolk county, Westchester county or New York city

except for property affiliated with downstate medical center that
constitutes a New York state incubator as the term is used in
subdivision four of section four hundred thirty-three of this article,
and (C) any property of the college of optometry or maritime college
located in Nassau county, Suffolk county, Westchester county or New York
city.
(ii) a community college, except that for a community college whose
main campus is in New York city, paragraphs (a) and (b) of this
subdivision shall not apply to property of such community college in
Nassau county, Suffolk county, Westchester county or New York city.
(iii) a total of five city university campuses, one each in the
boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten Island, which
will be designated by the board of trustees of the city university of
New York. The campus designated in each borough must be located in an
economically distressed community. The commissioner shall establish a
list of economically distressed communities for the purpose of this
designation, based on criteria indicative of economic distress,
including poverty rates, numbers of persons receiving public assistance,
unemployment rates, and such other indicators as the commissioner deems
appropriate to be in need of economic assistance. In addition,
paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdivision shall apply to property of
the city university located outside of Nassau county, Suffolk county,
Westchester county and New York city.
(d) The eligible land of a state university campus, community college,
or city university campus will also include eligible land designated
under paragraph (c) of subdivision two of this section.
2. Private colleges and universities and certain other campuses. (a)
Subject to the limitations in paragraph (c) of this subdivision, the
following will constitute the eligible land of a private college or
university:
(i) any vacant space in any building located on a campus of a private
university or college other than a campus which is located in Nassau
county, Suffolk county, Westchester county or New York city;
(ii) any vacant land on a campus of a private university or college
other than a campus which is located in Nassau county, Suffolk county,
Westchester county or New York city;
(iii) any vacant land or vacant space in a building which is not
located in Nassau county, Suffolk county, Westchester county or New York
city; and
(iv) a New York state incubator as the term is used in subdivision
four of section four hundred thirty-three of this article with a bona
fide affiliation to the private university or college, with approval of
the commissioner. In order for there to be a bona fide affiliation of a
New York state incubator with a private university or college, the
incubator and the private university or college must have a partnership
to provide assistance and physical space to eligible businesses as the
term is used in section sixteen-v of the urban development corporation
act; the incubator and the private university or college must directly
work towards the goals of jointly creating jobs and incubating new
startup businesses; and the mission and activities of the incubator must
align with or further the academic mission of the private university or
college.
(b) Subject to the limitations in paragraph (c) of this subdivision,
three million square feet is the maximum aggregate amount of tax-free NY
areas of private universities and colleges that may be utilized for this
program, which shall be designated in a manner that ensures regional
balance and balance among eligible rural, urban and suburban areas in
the state. The commissioner shall maintain an accounting of the vacant

land and space of private universities and colleges that have been
approved as tax-free NY areas and shall stop accepting applications for
approval of tax-free NY areas when that maximum amount has been reached.
(c) Of the maximum aggregate amount in paragraph (b) of this
subdivision, an initial amount of seventy-five thousand square feet
shall be designated as tax-free NY areas in each of the following:
Nassau county, Suffolk county, Westchester county and the boroughs of
Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island. The board may
approve the designation of up to an additional seventy-five thousand
square feet for any county or borough that reaches the initial
seventy-five thousand square foot limit, provided that such additional
seventy-five thousand square feet shall not count against the square
footage limitations in paragraph (b) of this subdivision. Vacant land
and vacant space in a building on the campus of the following shall be
eligible for designation under this paragraph:
(i) a private university or college which campus is located in Nassau
county, Suffolk county, Westchester county or New York city.
(ii) a state university campus that meets the criteria of clause (B)
or (C) of subparagraph (i) of paragraph (c) of subdivision one of this
section.
(iii) a community college whose main campus is in New York city.
(iv) a city university campus that is not designated under
subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (c) of subdivision one of this section.
(d) In addition, the board may approve: (i) one application that
includes eligible land owned or leased by a city university campus that
is directly adjacent to such campus; (ii) one application that includes
eligible land owned or leased by a state university campus, community
college, or private university or college in Nassau county or Suffolk
county that is directly adjacent to such campus, university or college;
and (iii) one application that includes eligible land owned or leased by
a state university campus, community college, or private university or
college in Westchester county that is directly adjacent to such campus,
university or college. The board may approve an additional application,
for a state university campus, community college, or private university
or college in the county not previously approved under subparagraph (ii)
of this paragraph, in which case it shall also approve a second
application under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph.
3. Prohibition. A state university campus, community college or city
university campus is prohibited from relocating or eliminating any
academic programs, any administrative programs, offices, housing
facilities, dining facilities, athletic facilities, or any other
facility, space or program that actively serves students, faculty or
staff in order to create vacant land or space to be utilized for the
program authorized by this article. In addition, nothing in this article
shall be deemed to waive or impair any rights or benefits of employees
of the state university of New York, a community college or the city
university of New York that otherwise would be available to them
pursuant to the terms of agreements between the certified
representatives of such employees and their employers pursuant to
article fourteen of the civil service law. No services or work currently
performed by public employees of the state university of New York, a
community college, or the city university of New York or future work
that is similar in scope and nature to the work being currently
performed by public employees shall be contracted out or privatized by
the state university of New York, a community college or the city
university of New York or by an affiliated entity or associated entity
of the state university of New York, a community college or the city
university of New York. For the purpose of this section, an affiliated

entity or associated entity shall not include a business that is
participating in the START-UP NY program.