§ 33 — Sale of unappropriated state lands; notice and place of public sales

§ 33. Sale of unappropriated state lands; notice and place of public\nsales. 1. The commissioner of general services may, from time to time,\nsell unappropriated state lands at public auction or by sealed bids in\nsuch parcels as he deems for the best interests of the state. Previous\nto every sale, he shall fix the lowest sum at which each lot may be\nsold, and shall designate at least one newspaper in the county where the\nlands to be sold are situated, in which the commissioner shall cause\nnotice of the time, place and description of sale to be published, at\nleast once a week for four weeks, successively, before the sale. Such\nnotice need not be published in any other paper or papers, and any\nstatute requiring additional publication of notices or advertisements by\nstate officers or a department, board, bureau or commission of the state\nshall not apply to such notice. The commissioner may designate a\nrepresentative of his office to conduct such sale. All such sales shall\nbe held at the county seat of the county where the property is situated,\nunless otherwise directed by the commissioner.\n Upon such sales of unappropriated state land to a purchaser procured\nby any licensed real estate broker and the payment of the purchase price\nin the amount offered by such broker in behalf of the purchaser, the\ncommissioner of general services is authorized to pay, subject to such\nterms and conditions as the commissioner may prescribe, a commission to\nsuch broker out of monies available therefor. Uniform rates of\ncommission shall, from time to time, be fixed by the commissioner but\nshall not exceed six percentum of the purchase price. No commission\nshall be paid for the procuring of any sale unless (1) written authority\nof the broker to make such offer on a form acceptable to the\ncommissioner, signed by the person for whom he is acting, shall be filed\nwith the commissioner before the day of the sale and unless (2) the\nbroker shall furnish to the commissioner evidence in such form and\nextent as he may require establishing that the purchaser was procured as\nthe result of the broker's services. In no event shall a broker who is\npaid a commission by the commissioner as herein provided accept any\nother commission or fee from any person or source for brokerage services\nrelating to the sale of such unappropriated state land.\n 2. (a) Whenever a street or highway, including any adjacent land\nacquired or held by the state in connection with such street or highway,\nthe title to the bed of which is in the state, shall have been legally\nabandoned or closed, in whole or in part, the commissioner of general\nservices may sell and convey at public auction or by sealed bids at not\nless than the appraised value, in such parcels as he directs, all the\nright, title and interest of the state in such abandoned or closed\nstreet or highway, or the part so abandoned or closed, and in any\nadjacent land acquired or held by the state in connection with such\nstreet or highway; and where, in the judgment of such commissioner, a\npublic auction is not for the best interests of the state the\ncommissioner, in his discretion, may sell and convey such parcels of\nsaid lands at private sale to the owners of adjacent lands for a price\nnot less than the appraised value and on such terms and conditions as\nthe commissioner may impose.\n (b) The commissioner of general services may sell and convey parcels\nof unappropriated state land which (i) do not constitute legal building\nlots in the municipality in which they are located and (ii) have an\nappraised value of less than fifty thousand dollars each at private sale\nto any owner of adjacent lands. Consideration for such sales shall be\nfor a price not less than the appraised value and such additional terms\nand conditions as the commissioner may deem necessary.\n 3. The commissioner of general services is authorized in his\ndiscretion to sell and convey at private sale upon such terms and\nconditions as he may deem proper, and to remise and quitclaim all the\nright, title and interest of the state in and to any unappropriated\nstate lands acquired by or through tax sale where it shall appear that\nsuch lands are and have been privately occupied under color of title\ncontinuously for ten years or where the applicant has, in good faith, a\ncontinuous chain of title going back more than ten years from the date\nof application. Any such sale, if made, shall be to the person or\npersons claiming title because of such occupation or under such chain of\ntitle, and shall be for a consideration not less than the fair market\nvalue of the state's interest as determined by the commissioner.\n 4. Where a petition is presented to a surrogate's court of this state\nfor an order directing the sale of a decedent's real property for any of\nthe purposes provided for in section one thousand nine hundred two of\nthe surrogate's court procedure act or otherwise, and there is reason to\nbelieve that such real property may have escheated to the people of the\nstate of New York, and a final judgment in an action by reason of such\nescheat, as provided for in section two hundred and one of the abandoned\nproperty law, has not been entered, the commissioner of general services\nmay, if it is deemed to be in the best interests of the state, authorize\nthe attorney general to consent to such order for the sale of such real\nproperty, either at public auction or by sealed bids or private sale. A\ndeed thereupon executed and delivered pursuant to the terms and\nprovisions of such order, upon such consent of the attorney general,\nshall be deemed a bar to any claim of title of the people of the state\nof New York, by virtue of such escheat, in the property so sold, but\nshall not be deemed to affect any rights that the people of the state of\nNew York may have in or to the proceeds of such sale. Consent, however,\nto such an order shall not be given in the event the price offered on a\nproposed private sale of such real property is less than the appraised\nvalue thereof as determined by the commissioner of general services.\n 5. (a) The commissioner of general services may sell and convey\nimproved, unappropriated state lands by competitive solicitation of\noffers through a request for proposals or similar method where in his or\nher judgment, a public auction is not in the best interests of the\nstate. Such solicitation shall document the minimum qualitative and\nquantitative factors in addition to sale price to be used as criteria in\nthe evaluation of offers and the general manner in which the evaluation\nprocess and selection of the most responsive and responsible offeror is\nto be conducted. Clarifications may be sought from offerors for purposes\nof assuring a full understanding of responsiveness to the solicitation\nrequirements. Where provided for in the solicitation, revisions may be\npermitted from all offerors determined to be eligible for award.\nDisclosure of the content of competing offers, other than statistical\ntabulations of offers received or of any clarifications or revisions\nthereto, shall be prohibited prior to award. All offers or separable\nparts thereof may be rejected.\n (b) Establishment of the minimum sale price for the competitive\nsolicitation shall be based upon a certified appraisal or certified\nappraisal report as defined in article six-E of the executive law.\n (c) The commissioner of general services shall designate at least one\nnewspaper in the county where the lands to be offered are situate, in\nwhich he or she shall cause a notice of the solicitation to be published\nat least once a week for four weeks successively before the date set\nforth for receipt of offers.\n