NY Pub Lands L § 33 (2021)
2021 New York Laws PBL - Public Lands Article 3 - Unappropriated State Lands 33 - Sale of Unappropriated State Lands; Notice and Place of Public Sales.

§ 33. Sale  of  unappropriated state lands; notice and place of public sales. 1. The commissioner of general services may, from time  to  time, sell  unappropriated  state lands at public auction or by sealed bids in such parcels as he deems for the best interests of the  state.  Previous to  every  sale,  he  shall  fix the lowest sum at which each lot may be sold, and shall designate at least one newspaper in the county where the lands to be sold are situated, in which  the  commissioner  shall  cause notice  of  the  time, place and description of sale to be published, at least once a week for four weeks, successively, before  the  sale.  Such notice  need  not  be  published  in  any other paper or papers, and any statute requiring additional publication of notices or advertisements by state officers or a department, board, bureau or commission of the state shall not apply  to  such  notice.  The  commissioner  may  designate  a representative  of his office to conduct such sale. All such sales shall be held at the county seat of the county where the property is situated, unless otherwise directed by the commissioner.   Upon such sales of unappropriated state land to a  purchaser  procured by any licensed real estate broker and the payment of the purchase price in  the  amount  offered  by such broker in behalf of the purchaser, the commissioner of general services is authorized to pay, subject  to  such terms  and conditions as the commissioner may prescribe, a commission to such  broker  out  of  monies  available  therefor.  Uniform  rates   of commission  shall,  from  time to time, be fixed by the commissioner but shall not exceed six percentum of  the  purchase  price.  No  commission shall be paid for the procuring of any sale unless (1) written authority of  the  broker  to  make  such  offer  on  a  form  acceptable  to  the commissioner, signed by the person for whom he is acting, shall be filed with the commissioner before the day of the  sale  and  unless  (2)  the broker  shall  furnish  to  the  commissioner  evidence in such form and extent as he may require establishing that the purchaser was procured as the result of the broker's services. In no event shall a broker  who  is paid  a  commission  by  the  commissioner as herein provided accept any other commission or fee from any person or source for brokerage services relating to the sale of such unappropriated state land.   2. (a) Whenever a street  or  highway,  including  any  adjacent  land acquired or held by the state in connection with such street or highway, the  title  to the bed of which is in the state, shall have been legally abandoned or closed, in whole or in part, the  commissioner  of  general services  may sell and convey at public auction or by sealed bids at not less than the appraised value, in such parcels as he  directs,  all  the right,  title  and  interest  of  the  state in such abandoned or closed street or highway, or the part  so  abandoned  or  closed,  and  in  any adjacent  land  acquired  or  held  by the state in connection with such street or highway; and where, in the judgment of  such  commissioner,  a public  auction  is  not  for  the  best  interests  of  the  state  the commissioner, in his discretion, may sell and  convey  such  parcels  of said  lands  at private sale to the owners of adjacent lands for a price not less than the appraised value and on such terms  and  conditions  as the commissioner may impose.  (b)  The  commissioner of general services may sell and convey parcels of unappropriated state land which (i) do not constitute legal  building lots  in  the  municipality  in  which they are located and (ii) have an appraised value of less than twenty thousand  dollars  each  at  private sale  to any owner of adjacent lands. Consideration for such sales shall be for a price not less than the appraised  value  and  such  additional terms and conditions as the commissioner may deem necessary.   3.   The  commissioner  of  general  services  is  authorized  in  his discretion to sell and convey  at  private  sale  upon  such  terms  and  conditions  as  he  may deem proper, and to remise and quitclaim all the right, title and interest of the state  in  and  to  any  unappropriated state  lands  acquired by or through tax sale where it shall appear that such  lands  are  and  have been privately occupied under color of title continuously for ten years or where the applicant has, in good faith,  a continuous  chain  of title going back more than ten years from the date of application. Any such sale, if  made,  shall  be  to  the  person  or persons claiming title because of such occupation or under such chain of title,  and  shall  be for a consideration not less than the fair market value of the state's interest as determined by the commissioner.   4. Where a petition is presented to a surrogate's court of this  state for an order directing the sale of a decedent's real property for any of the  purposes  provided  for in section one thousand nine hundred two of the surrogate's court procedure act or otherwise, and there is reason to believe that such real property may have escheated to the people of  the state  of  New York, and a final judgment in an action by reason of such escheat, as provided for in section two hundred and one of the abandoned property law, has not been entered, the commissioner of general services may, if it is deemed to be in the best interests of the state, authorize the attorney general to consent to such order for the sale of such  real property,  either at public auction or by sealed bids or private sale. A deed  thereupon  executed  and  delivered  pursuant  to  the  terms  and provisions  of  such  order,  upon such consent of the attorney general, shall be deemed a bar to any claim of title of the people of  the  state of  New  York,  by  virtue of such escheat, in the property so sold, but shall not be deemed to affect any rights that the people of the state of New York may have in or to the proceeds of such sale. Consent,  however, to  such an order shall not be given in the event the price offered on a proposed private sale of such real property is less than  the  appraised value thereof as determined by the commissioner of general services.   5.  (a)  The  commissioner  of  general  services  may sell and convey improved, unappropriated state  lands  by  competitive  solicitation  of offers through a request for proposals or similar method where in his or her  judgment,  a  public  auction  is  not in the best interests of the state. Such solicitation shall  document  the  minimum  qualitative  and quantitative factors in addition to sale price to be used as criteria in the  evaluation of offers and the general manner in which the evaluation process and selection of the most responsive and responsible offeror  is to be conducted. Clarifications may be sought from offerors for purposes of  assuring  a full understanding of responsiveness to the solicitation requirements. Where provided for in the solicitation, revisions  may  be permitted  from  all  offerors  determined  to  be  eligible  for award. Disclosure of the content of competing offers,  other  than  statistical tabulations  of  offers  received  or of any clarifications or revisions thereto, shall be prohibited prior to award.  All  offers  or  separable parts thereof may be rejected.  (b)  Establishment  of  the  minimum  sale  price  for the competitive solicitation shall be based upon  a  certified  appraisal  or  certified appraisal report as defined in article six-E of the executive law.  (c)  The commissioner of general services shall designate at least one newspaper in the county where the lands to be offered  are  situate,  in which he or she shall cause a notice of the solicitation to be published at  least  once  a  week for four weeks successively before the date set forth for receipt of offers.