2023 New York Laws › AGM - Agriculture and Markets › Article 19 - Refrigerated Warehouses and Locker Plants › 240 - Length of Storage Period.

§ 240. Length  of  storage  period.  1. No person or corporation shall
  keep or permit to remain in any refrigerated warehouse or  locker  plant
  any  article  of food beyond the time when it is sound and wholesome and
  fit to remain in storage.  If any article of food is found to be fit for
  immediate consumption, but unfit for further storage,  such  article  of
  food  shall  at  once  be  removed from storage and not again stored. No
  article of food shall be kept or permitted to remain in any refrigerated
  warehouse for  a  longer  aggregate  period  than  twenty-four  calendar
  months,  except by order of the commissioner. Upon evidence satisfactory
  to him that the food is sound and wholesome and fit for further storage,
  the commissioner may, in his  discretion,  grant  an  extension  of  the
  storage period. He may, in his discretion, cause any articles of food to
  be  examined to ascertain if the food is sound and wholesome and fit for
  further storage.
2. In the event that any article of food is  held  in  a  refrigerated
  warehouse  for  a  period  of  longer  than  twenty-four calendar months
  without  extension  having  been  applied  for  and   granted   by   the
  commissioner,   and  that  neither  the  operator  of  the  refrigerated
  warehouse nor the commissioner can locate the owner of the said  article
  of  food, after ten days' notice by registered mail directed to the last
  known address of such owner, then, and in that event,  the  commissioner
  shall  have  the  power  to  order  the disposition and sale of the said
  article of food for the purpose of payment of  charges  for  storage  or
  other  valid liens against same. If a sale as herein provided is ordered
  by the commissioner, the proceeds of such sale shall be applied,  first,
  to  the  payment  of  any  and  all  charges  for storage and service in
  connection with said property, and second, for  any  other  valid  liens
  against  the said property. Any balance then remaining from the proceeds
  of the sale shall be paid to the owner of the  said  property,  if  such
  owner  can  be  located;  and,  in the event the owner cannot be located
  within one year of date of notification, then any balance shall be  paid
  into the treasury of the state of New York.
3.  If  through non-use of any locker or lockers by the lessee thereof
  during a period of twelve calendar months,  or  if  for  any  reason  it
  becomes apparent to the operator of a locker plant that articles of food
  are possibly being held in any locker or lockers for a period beyond the
  time  when  such  articles  of food may be sound and wholesome or fit to
  remain in storage, he shall notify the lessee to immediately inspect the
  contents of his locker or lockers; and, if any article of food is  found
  unfit  for  further  storage,  the  operator  shall  require  its prompt
  removal.
4. If the operator of the locker plant,  after  ten  days'  notice  by
  registered  mail  directed  to the last known address of such lessee, is
  unable to locate the lessee of the said locker or lockers, then, and  in
  that  event, he shall so notify the commissioner. The commissioner shall
  thereupon cause the articles of food to be examined, and, if  found  fit
  for  immediate  consumption,  he  shall  have  the  power  to  order the
  disposition and sale of the said article or articles  of  food  for  the
  purpose  of  payment  of the locker charges or other valid liens against
  same. If a sale as herein provided is ordered by the  commissioner,  the
  proceeds of such sale shall be applied, first, to the payment of any and
  all  charges  due the locker plant operator for rental and service, and,
  second, for any other valid liens against the said property. Any balance
  then remaining from the proceeds of the sale shall be paid to the  owner
  of  the  said  property  if such owner can be located; and, in the event
  that  the  owner  cannot  be  located  within  one  year  of   date   of
  notification,  then  any  balance shall be paid into the treasury of the
  state of New York.
5. In  carrying  out  any  order  of  the  commissioner  for  sale  or
  disposition of any property under the provisions of sections two hundred
  and  thirty-nine  or two hundred and forty of this chapter, the owner or
  operators of the refrigerated  warehouse  or  locker  plant  are  hereby
  relieved from any liability to the original owner or any other person or
  persons  for  the custody of said property, and from any legal liability
  under any warehouse receipt issued and  outstanding  covering  the  said
  property.