§ 1953. Purpose and powers of the authority. The purposes of the
authority shall be to promote, develop, encourage and assist in the
acquiring, constructing, reconstructing, improving, maintaining,
equipping and furnishing industrial, manufacturing, warehouse,
commercial and research facilities including industrial pollution
control facilities, transportation facilities including but not limited
to those relating to water, highway, rail and air, in one or more areas
of the city, particularly but not exclusively at the site of what was
formerly the Troy airport including an airstrip or airport located in
the southern section of the city and thereby advance the job
opportunities, health, general prosperity and economic welfare of the
people of said city and to improve their standard of living; provided,
however, that the authority shall not undertake any project if the
completion thereof would result in the removal of an industrial or
manufacturing plant of the project occupant from one area of the state
to another area of the state or in the abandonment of one or more plants
or facilities of the project applicant located within the state,
provided, however, that neither restriction shall apply if the authority
shall determine on the basis of the application before it that the
project is reasonably necessary to discourage the project occupant from
removing such other plant or facility to a location outside the state or
is reasonably necessary to preserve the competitive position of the
project occupant in its respective industry. Except as otherwise
provided for in this section, no financial assistance of the authority
shall be provided in respect of any project where facilities or property
that are primarily used in making retail sales to customers who
personally visit such facilities constitute more than one-third of the
total project cost. For the purposes of this article, "retail sales"
shall mean: (i) sales by a registered vendor under article twenty-eight
of the tax law primarily engaged in the retail sale of tangible personal
property, as defined in subparagraph (i) of paragraph four of
subdivision (b) of section eleven hundred one of the tax law; or (ii)
sales of a service to such customers. Except, however, that tourism
destination projects shall not be prohibited by this paragraph. For the
purpose of this paragraph, "tourism destination" shall mean a location
or facility which is likely to attract a significant number of visitors
from outside the economic development region as established by section
two hundred thirty of the economic development law in which the project
is located.

Notwithstanding the provisions of this section to the contrary, such
financial assistance may, however, be provided to a project where
facilities or property that are primarily used in making retail sales of
goods or services to customers who personally visit such facilities to
obtain such goods or services constitute more than one-third of the
total project cost, where: (i) the predominant purpose of the project
would be to make available goods or services which would not, but for
the project, be reasonably accessible to the residents of the city of
Troy because of a lack of reasonably accessible retail trade facilities
offering such goods or services; or (ii) the project is located in a
highly distressed area. With respect to projects authorized pursuant to
this paragraph no project shall be approved unless the authority shall
find after the public hearing required by section twenty-three hundred
seven of this chapter that undertaking the project will serve the public
purposes of this article by preserving permanent, private sector jobs or
increasing the overall number of permanent, private sector jobs in the
state. Where the authority makes such a finding, prior to providing
financial assistance to the project by the authority, the chief
executive officer of the city of Troy shall confirm the proposed action
of the authority. To carry out said purposes, the authority shall have
power:

1. To sue and be sued;

2. To have a seal and alter the same at pleasure;

3. To acquire, hold and dispose of personal property for its corporate
purpose;

4. To acquire by purchase, grant, lease, gift, condemnation, or
otherwise and to use, real property or rights or easements therein
necessary for its corporate purposes, and to sell, convey, mortgage,
lease, pledge, exchange or otherwise dispose of any such property in
such manner as the authority shall determine. With respect to real
property conveyed to it by the city, however, such power of disposition
shall be limited as hereinafter provided in section nineteen hundred
fifty-five of this title;

5. To make by-laws for the management and regulation of its affairs
and, subject to agreements with its bondholders, for the regulation of
the use of the project;

6. With the consent of the city, to use agents, employees and
facilities of the city, paying the city its agreed proportion of the
compensation or costs;

7. To appoint officers, agents and employees, to prescribe their
qualifications and to fix their compensation and to pay the same out of
funds of the authority, subject, however, to the provisions of the civil
service law as hereinafter provided in section nineteen hundred
fifty-four of this title;

8. To appoint an attorney, who may be the corporation counsel of the
city, and to fix the attorney's compensation for services which shall be
payable to the attorney, and to retain and employ private consultants
for professional and technical assistance and advice; provided that an
attorney acting as bond counsel for a project must file with the
authority a written statement in which the attorney identifies each
party to the transaction which such attorney represents. If bond counsel
provides any legal services to parties other than the authority, the
written statement must describe the nature of legal services provided by
such bond counsel to all parties to the transaction, including the
nature of the services provided to the authority;

9. To make contracts and leases upon such terms as the authority shall
deem appropriate, including without limitation leases which grant the
tenant of a project an option to renew or an option to purchase the
project, or both, at a fixed or otherwise predetermined price and to
execute all instruments necessary or convenient;

10. To acquire, construct, reconstruct, lease, improve, maintain,
equip or furnish one or more projects;

11. To accept gifts, grants, loans or contributions from, and enter
into contracts or other transactions with, the United States and the
state or any agency of either of them, any municipality, any public or
private corporation or any other legal entity, and to use any such
gifts, grants, loans or contributions for any of its corporate purposes;

12. To borrow money and to issue bonds and to provide for the rights
of the holders thereof;

13. To designate the depositories of its money either within or
without the state of New York;

14. To enter into agreements requiring payments in lieu of taxes. Such
agreements shall be in writing and in addition to other terms shall
contain: the amount due annually to each affected tax jurisdiction (or a
formula by which the amount due can be calculated), the name and address
of the person, office or agency to which payment shall be delivered, the
date on which payment shall be made, and the date on which payment shall
be considered delinquent if not paid. Unless otherwise agreed by the
affected tax jurisdictions, any such agreement shall provide that
payments in lieu of taxes shall be allocated among affected tax
jurisdictions in proportion to the amount of real property tax and other
taxes which would have been received by each affected tax jurisdiction
had the project not been tax exempt due to the status of the authority
involved in the project. A copy of any such agreement shall be delivered
to each affected tax jurisdiction within fifteen days of signing the
agreement. In the absence of any such written agreement, payments in
lieu of taxes made by an agency shall be allocated in the same
proportions as they had been prior to January first, nineteen hundred
ninety-three for so long as the authority's activities render a project
non-taxable by affected tax jurisdictions. A notification of the
expiration of such agreement shall be delivered to the affected tax
jurisdiction two years prior to the expiration of such agreement and
immediately upon early termination of an agreement;

15. To establish and reestablish its fiscal year; and

16. To do all things necessary or convenient to carry out its purposes
and exercise the powers expressly given in this title.