§ 1266-h. Authority police force. 1. The authority is hereby
authorized and empowered, to provide and maintain an authority police
department and a uniformed authority police force. Each member of such
uniformed police force shall be a "police officer" for the purposes of
the criminal procedure law, with all of the powers of such police
officers thereunder and subject to the same jurisdictional provisions on
the exercise of that power as set forth in such law. The geographical
area of employment of such police officers for the purposes of the
criminal procedure law shall embrace the metropolitan commuter
transportation district as defined in section twelve hundred sixty-two
of this title. Such department and force shall have the power, in and
about any or all of the facilities owned, occupied and/or operated by
the authority and its subsidiary corporations, the New York city transit
authority and its subsidiaries, and the triborough bridge and tunnel
authority, as determined in the discretion of the authority, to enforce
and prevent violation of all laws and ordinances. Nothing herein shall
confer upon the authority police force or upon their collective
negotiations representatives exclusive jurisdiction or claim over the
exercise of police power or security work on behalf of the authority and
its subsidiary corporations, the New York city transit authority and its
subsidiaries, and the triborough bridge and tunnel authority. Nothing
herein shall limit the authority and its subsidiary corporations, the
New York city transit authority and its subsidiaries, and the triborough
bridge and tunnel authority from continuing to rely on local police for
police services. However, traditional police functions previously
performed by the Long Island Rail Road Company and/or the Metro-North
Commuter Railroad Company police force shall continue to be performed by
the authority police forces.

2. Initial appointments to such authority police force shall be all
incumbent police officers from the Long Island Rail Road Company and/or
the Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company at the time of such
appointment. The executive director of the authority, through the chief
of police, shall have the power and authority to appoint and employ such
number of police officers as he deems necessary to act as police
officers of the authority and to administer to the officers an oath or
affirmation faithfully to perform the duties of their respective
positions or offices. Unless, at the time of appointment, the person is
a police officer of Long Island Rail Road Company or Metro-North
Commuter Railroad Company, only persons who have never been convicted of
a felony and are citizens of the United States shall be appointed police
officers on the authority police force. After the initial appointments
are made, selection of police officer candidates shall be made pursuant
to an examination process to be determined at the discretion of the
authority and candidates must receive a certificate attesting to
satisfactory completion of an approved municipal police basic training
program, as described in section two hundred nine-q of the general
municipal law. No person shall be eligible for appointment unless such
person is not less than twenty years of age as of the date of
appointment nor more than thirty-five years of age as of the date when
the applicant takes the written examination, provided, however, that
time spent on military duty or on terminal leave, not exceeding a total
of six years, shall be subtracted from the age of any applicant who has
passed his or her thirty-fifth birthday as provided in subdivision ten-a
of section two hundred forty-three of the military law. Upon
appointments made by transferring an entire group of police officers
into the authority police force, thereby eliminating such other group of
police officers, the authority shall recognize any representative
previously chosen by the police officers for the purposes of collective
negotiations consistent with the bargaining units already established
and shall also assume and continue to observe any existing labor
contracts covering these police officers including such provisions which
relate to the grievance and disciplinary procedures and interest
arbitration. Subsequent to the establishment of the consolidated police
force the authority and the collective bargaining representatives shall
be authorized to negotiate a merger of the separate bargaining units.

3. The authority may appoint a chief and one or more deputy chiefs of
the authority police department who, in the discretion of the authority,
may be selected from the ranks of the authority police force, and assign
powers and duties to them and fix their compensation. The chief shall be
the head of such department. The deputy chief designated by the chief
shall possess all the powers and perform all the duties of the chief
during his absence or disability. The authority police force shall
consist of such divisions, supervisors and officers, including but not
limited to police officers, detectives, sergeants, lieutenants and
captains as designated by the authority. Notwithstanding any law or
provision to the contrary, the members of the uniformed authority police
force shall not acquire civil service status or become members of the
New York state and local employees' retirement system, except as set
forth below.

4. The authority shall provide for a twenty year retirement plan under
the same terms and conditions as provided by section three hundred
eighty-nine of the retirement and social security law as enacted by
chapter six hundred twenty-eight of the laws of nineteen hundred
ninety-one; except that:

(a) any benefit provided pursuant to such plan shall be subject to an
offset, as defined in this paragraph, for any tier II benefit payable
pursuant to the federal Railroad Retirement Act to or in the respect of
a member. The offset provided for by this paragraph shall be the amount
of the tier II benefit which would be payable to or in respect to such
member pursuant to the federal Railroad Retirement Act multiplied by a
fraction, the numerator of which is the member's years of credited
service covered by the federal Railroad Retirement Act rendered to, or
credited by, the authority or any subsidiary corporation of the
authority, and the denominator of which is the member's total years of
service covered by the federal Railroad Retirement Act;

(b) references to Long Island Rail Road shall be to the authority;

(c) the transfer of funds described in subdivision f of section three
hundred eighty-nine of the retirement and social security law as enacted
by chapter six hundred twenty-eight of the laws of nineteen hundred
ninety-one shall include the Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company
Defined Contribution Pension Plan for Agreement Employees;

(d) the provisions of subdivision g of section three hundred
eighty-nine of the retirement and social security law as enacted by
chapter six hundred twenty-eight of the laws of nineteen hundred
ninety-one to the extent of requiring contributions for past service
liability shall not be applicable; and

(e) when a police officer transferred from the Long Island Rail Road
Company police force to the authority police force reaches age sixty-two
the authority will offset the amount payable under this plan by the
amount of tier II benefit payable from the Railroad Retirement Board for
a service age annuity or disability payable at the participants age
sixty-two.

5. The authority may, in its sole discretion, establish within the
authority's defined benefit program, a retirement program consistent
with the foregoing. If the authority has not so established such program
in its defined benefit program within one hundred eighty days after
enactment, then the authority shall elect to participate in article
fourteen-B of the retirement and social security law.

6. If the authority elects to participate in the New York state and
local employees' retirement system, such election to participate shall
be made by resolution filed with the comptroller and accepted by him
pursuant to section thirty-one of the retirement and social security
law.

7. Nothing herein contained shall be deemed to diminish, suspend or
abolish an existing benefit inured to a police officer, transferred from
the Long Island Rail Road Company and/or Metro-North Commuter Railroad
Company police force and subject to the provisions of this section in
and to the rights, privileges or status previously earned within a
pension or retirement system of which they were a member immediately
prior to the enactment of this section; and any such existing right,
privilege or status shall survive the effect of any decisions or
determinations lawfully made in accordance with the provisions hereof so
long as such right, privilege or status is greater in benefit to that
which would be imposed or imputed to any subject officer as a result of
actions of the authority authorized herein.

* 8. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section or of any
general, special or local law to the contrary, and solely for the
purpose of determining eligibility for benefits under this section,
where:

(i) a member reported in person to such member's usual place of public
employment at the direction of such member's public employer or to any
alternate worksite as directed by such public employer, on or after
March first, two thousand twenty, provided that such alternate worksite
was not such member's home or residence;

(ii) such member contracted COVID-19 within forty-five days after
reporting to work pursuant to subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, as
confirmed by a positive laboratory test or as diagnosed before or after
such member's death by a licensed, certified, registered or authorized
physician, nurse practitioner, or physician's assistant currently in
good standing in any state or the District of Columbia, or a physician,
nurse practitioner, or physician's assistant authorized to practice in
New York by executive order during the declared COVID-19 state of
emergency; and

(iii) Such member died on or before December thirty-first, two
thousand twenty-four, and COVID-19 caused or contributed to such
member's death, as documented on such member's death certificate, or as
certified by a physician, nurse practitioner, or physician's assistant
described in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph who determines with a
reasonable degree of medical certainty that COVID-19 caused or
contributed to the member's death, such member's statutory beneficiary
shall receive an accidental death benefit, unless such statutory
beneficiary elects to receive an ordinary death benefit.

(b) Any amount payable as a result of this section shall be reduced by
any amount paid by such member's retirement system to any recipient of
ordinary death benefits pursuant to this section.

(c) Notwithstanding any provision of this section or of any general,
special or local law to the contrary, and solely for the purpose of
determining eligibility for benefits under this section, where a member:

(1) retired from his or her retirement system on or after March first,
two thousand twenty, and before July first, two thousand twenty;

(2) on or after March first, two thousand twenty, reported in person
to such member's usual place of public employment at the direction of
such member's public employer or to any alternate worksite as directed
by such public employer, provided that such alternate worksite was not
such member's home or residence;

(3) contracted COVID-19 within forty-five days after any such date of
reporting to work in person, as confirmed by a positive laboratory test
or as diagnosed before or after such member's death by a licensed,
certified, registered or authorized physician, nurse practitioner, or
physician's assistant currently in good standing in any state or the
District of Columbia, or a physician, nurse practitioner, or physician's
assistant authorized to practice in New York by executive order during
the declared COVID-19 state of emergency; and

(4) Such member died on or before December thirty-first, two thousand
twenty, and COVID-19 caused or contributed to such member's death, as
documented on such member's death certificate, or as certified by a
physician, nurse practitioner, or physician's assistant described in
subparagraph three of this paragraph who determines with a reasonable
degree of medical certainty that COVID-19 caused or contributed to the
member's death, such member's statutory beneficiary shall receive an
accidental death benefit if such statutory beneficiary elects conversion
of the member's service or disability retirement benefit into an
accidental death benefit.

(d) Such member's statutory beneficiary, as defined pursuant to this
section, for purposes of accidental death benefits payable from such
member's retirement system under this section, may, within ninety days
of such member's retirement or September first, two thousand twenty,
whichever is later, apply to such member's retirement system to request
the conversion of such member's service or disability retirement benefit
into an accidental death benefit. For purposes of the salary base upon
which the accidental death benefit is calculated, such member shall be
deemed to have died on the date of such member's retirement. At the time
of such conversion, such statutory beneficiary shall relinquish all
rights to the prospective benefits payable under the service or
disability retirement statute, including any post-retirement death
benefits, since such member's death. If the statutory beneficiary is not
the only beneficiary receiving or entitled to receive a benefit under
the service or disability retirement statute including, but not limited
to, a post-retirement death benefit or benefit paid or payable pursuant
to the member's option selection, the accidental death benefit payments
to the statutory beneficiary will be reduced by any amounts paid or
payable to any other statutory beneficiary.

(e) In order to be eligible for the benefit described in this
subdivision, the applicable retirement system or systems are authorized
to promulgate rules and regulations to administer this benefit
including, but not limited to, requiring a statement to be filed
confirming the member contracted COVID-19 and the dates and locations of
such member's employment.

* NB Repealed December 31, 2024