§ 99-n. Transfer and lease of ferry boats and buses. 1. As used in
this section the term "municipality" shall mean a county, city, town or
village.

2. Notwithstanding any other law, general, special or local, a
municipality, acting through its chief executive officer and its chief
fiscal officer, without further approval, except, in the case of any
municipality with respect to which the legislature has declared that a
state of financial emergency exists, the approval of any emergency
financial control board or similar body established by state law for
such municipality, may (a) sell or transfer all interest in any or all
of its ferry boats and buses, except to the extent of any portion of any
ferry boat or bus financed by federal grants, for consideration and on
such terms and conditions as it may deem appropriate, and obtain a lease
from the transferee on such terms and conditions and for such period as
it may deem appropriate pursuant to which it may operate such ferry
boats or buses, as the case may be, provided (i) such lease contains an
option to the municipality to repurchase such interest at the expiration
of the scheduled lease term for nominal consideration and (ii) the
aggregate of the regularly scheduled rental payments which the
municipality is obligated to make pursuant to such lease during each
twelve month period of the lease term shall not exceed the aggregate
amount receivable, whether by principal or interest, by the municipality
from its transferee during each such twelve month period. Without
limitation of the foregoing, any lease entered into pursuant hereto may
also contain provisions requiring the municipality to indemnify the
transferee for, among other things, any loss resulting from the loss or
destruction of any property which is the subject of such lease and
requiring the municipality to undertake to replace, repair or restore
any such property, but such obligations shall not be deemed regularly
scheduled rental payments for purposes of the preceding sentence; and
(b) provide compensation to one or more third parties for services
rendered by them in connection with any such transaction.

3. Notwithstanding any other law, general, special or local, the
proceeds from any transaction described in this section may be used by
such municipality for any lawful municipal purpose.

4. The lessor of such property, during the term of any lease thereof
to a municipality, shall, if the lessor shall have assigned to the
lessee all manufacturers' and other warranties furnished to the lessor
in connection with its purchase of such property, and except as the
lease may otherwise provide, have no liability or responsibility to the
lessee or to third parties for damages to real or personal property or
for the destruction thereof, or for personal injuries or death, based
upon the use, condition or state of such property, or any part thereof,
except to the extent such lessor may have any such responsibility or
liability by virtue of its being the manufacturer of such property, or
any part thereof.

5. With respect to any transaction described in this section, a
municipality shall comply with the following standards and procedures:
(i) notice of intention to negotiate a transaction described in this
section shall be published in at least one newspaper of general
circulation, and a copy thereof shall be mailed to all parties who have
requested notification from the municipality of its intent to engage in
transactions of this type. Such notice shall describe the nature of the
proposed transaction and the factors subject to negotiation which shall
include, but not be limited to, the price to be paid to the
municipality; (ii) the municipality shall consider each proposal which
complies with the requirements set forth in the notice; and (iii) the
municipality shall determine, on the basis of relevant factors, that the
transaction negotiated will provide maximum available financial
benefits, consistent with other defined objectives and requirements.