§ 361. Traffic control. 1. (a) In addition to the powers conferred by
the vehicle and traffic law, the authority is hereby authorized to
promulgate such rules and regulations for the use and occupancy of the
thruway as may be necessary and proper for the public safety and
convenience, for the preservation of its property and for the collection
of tolls and provided further that the authority, in consultation with
the departments of environmental conservation and transportation, is
hereby authorized to promulgate rules and regulations necessary to
implement a heavy duty vehicle roadside inspection program pursuant to
section 19-0320 of the environmental conservation law.

(b) Notwithstanding any inconsistent provisions of any general,
special or local law, the thruway authority shall mark, with appropriate
directional signs, the exits nearest to any state owned unique natural
attraction within forty miles of the thruway which lies wholly or
partially within the state of New York, such as, lakes more than ten
miles in length, excepting Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, and mountains
more than five thousand feet in height.

(c) Notwithstanding any inconsistent provisions of the general
business law or of any other law, general, special or local, the landing
and take-off of planes on the thruway system shall be governed by rules
and regulations promulgated by the thruway authority.

(d) The violation of any such rule or regulation promulgated pursuant
to this section shall be an offense and a first conviction thereof shall
be punishable by a fine of not more than fifty dollars or by
imprisonment for not more than fifteen days or by both such fine and
imprisonment; a second such conviction within eighteen months thereafter
shall be punishable by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars or by
imprisonment for not more than forty-five days or by both such fine and
imprisonment; and a third or subsequent conviction within eighteen
months after the first conviction shall be punishable by a fine of not
more than two hundred fifty dollars or by imprisonment for not more than
ninety days or by both such fine and imprisonment; provided, however,
that the violation of any such rule or regulation relating to the
transportation of explosives class a or class b shall be a misdemeanor,
punishable by a fine not exceeding twenty-five hundred dollars or by
imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or by both such fine and
imprisonment.

(e) For the purpose of conferring jurisdiction upon courts and
judicial officers generally, violations of those rules and regulations
of the authority which are herein defined as offenses shall nevertheless
be deemed misdemeanors for the sole purpose of making applicable all
procedural provisions of law relating to misdemeanors, and courts of
special sessions outside the city of New York and in the city of New
York, the criminal court of the city of New York, in the first instance,
shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine charges of such
violations and provided, further, that no jury trial shall be allowed
for such violations.

2. Enforcement of the rules and regulations of the thruway authority
and of those provisions of the vehicle and traffic law applicable to the
thruway shall be by authority forces, provided however, that at the
request of the authority, such enforcement shall be the duty of the
division of state police. Violators shall be apprehended and prosecuted
in the same manner as provided for the apprehension and prosecution of
violators of the vehicle and traffic law who commit violations thereof
upon the state highway system. Authority forces specifically employed
for the enforcement of such rules and regulations, during the term of
such employment, shall be uniformed, shall have the powers of peace
officers, as set forth in section 2.20 of the criminal procedure law,
and shall have, within the limits of any municipality within which any
portion of the thruway system under the jurisdiction of the authority
shall be located, all the powers of a peace officer in the execution of
criminal processes; and criminal process issued by any court or
magistrate of a municipality within which any portion of the thruway
system under the jurisdiction of the authority shall be located, may be
directed to and executed by any such employee notwithstanding the
provisions of any local or special law, ordinance or regulation.