§ 33. Sale of unappropriated state lands; notice and place of public
sales. 1. The commissioner of general services may, from time to time,
sell unappropriated state lands at public auction or by sealed bids in
such parcels as he deems for the best interests of the state. Previous
to every sale, he shall fix the lowest sum at which each lot may be
sold, and shall designate at least one newspaper in the county where the
lands to be sold are situated, in which the commissioner shall cause
notice of the time, place and description of sale to be published, at
least once a week for four weeks, successively, before the sale. Such
notice need not be published in any other paper or papers, and any
statute requiring additional publication of notices or advertisements by
state officers or a department, board, bureau or commission of the state
shall not apply to such notice. The commissioner may designate a
representative of his office to conduct such sale. All such sales shall
be held at the county seat of the county where the property is situated,
unless otherwise directed by the commissioner.

Upon such sales of unappropriated state land to a purchaser procured
by any licensed real estate broker and the payment of the purchase price
in the amount offered by such broker in behalf of the purchaser, the
commissioner of general services is authorized to pay, subject to such
terms and conditions as the commissioner may prescribe, a commission to
such broker out of monies available therefor. Uniform rates of
commission shall, from time to time, be fixed by the commissioner but
shall not exceed six percentum of the purchase price. No commission
shall be paid for the procuring of any sale unless (1) written authority
of the broker to make such offer on a form acceptable to the
commissioner, signed by the person for whom he is acting, shall be filed
with the commissioner before the day of the sale and unless (2) the
broker shall furnish to the commissioner evidence in such form and
extent as he may require establishing that the purchaser was procured as
the result of the broker's services. In no event shall a broker who is
paid a commission by the commissioner as herein provided accept any
other commission or fee from any person or source for brokerage services
relating to the sale of such unappropriated state land.

2. (a) Whenever a street or highway, including any adjacent land
acquired or held by the state in connection with such street or highway,
the title to the bed of which is in the state, shall have been legally
abandoned or closed, in whole or in part, the commissioner of general
services may sell and convey at public auction or by sealed bids at not
less than the appraised value, in such parcels as he directs, all the
right, title and interest of the state in such abandoned or closed
street or highway, or the part so abandoned or closed, and in any
adjacent land acquired or held by the state in connection with such
street or highway; and where, in the judgment of such commissioner, a
public auction is not for the best interests of the state the
commissioner, in his discretion, may sell and convey such parcels of
said lands at private sale to the owners of adjacent lands for a price
not less than the appraised value and on such terms and conditions as
the commissioner may impose.

(b) The commissioner of general services may sell and convey parcels
of unappropriated state land which (i) do not constitute legal building
lots in the municipality in which they are located and (ii) have an
appraised value of less than fifty thousand dollars each at private sale
to any owner of adjacent lands. Consideration for such sales shall be
for a price not less than the appraised value and such additional terms
and conditions as the commissioner may deem necessary.

3. The commissioner of general services is authorized in his
discretion to sell and convey at private sale upon such terms and
conditions as he may deem proper, and to remise and quitclaim all the
right, title and interest of the state in and to any unappropriated
state lands acquired by or through tax sale where it shall appear that
such lands are and have been privately occupied under color of title
continuously for ten years or where the applicant has, in good faith, a
continuous chain of title going back more than ten years from the date
of application. Any such sale, if made, shall be to the person or
persons claiming title because of such occupation or under such chain of
title, and shall be for a consideration not less than the fair market
value of the state's interest as determined by the commissioner.

4. Where a petition is presented to a surrogate's court of this state
for an order directing the sale of a decedent's real property for any of
the purposes provided for in section one thousand nine hundred two of
the surrogate's court procedure act or otherwise, and there is reason to
believe that such real property may have escheated to the people of the
state of New York, and a final judgment in an action by reason of such
escheat, as provided for in section two hundred and one of the abandoned
property law, has not been entered, the commissioner of general services
may, if it is deemed to be in the best interests of the state, authorize
the attorney general to consent to such order for the sale of such real
property, either at public auction or by sealed bids or private sale. A
deed thereupon executed and delivered pursuant to the terms and
provisions of such order, upon such consent of the attorney general,
shall be deemed a bar to any claim of title of the people of the state
of New York, by virtue of such escheat, in the property so sold, but
shall not be deemed to affect any rights that the people of the state of
New York may have in or to the proceeds of such sale. Consent, however,
to such an order shall not be given in the event the price offered on a
proposed private sale of such real property is less than the appraised
value thereof as determined by the commissioner of general services.

5. (a) The commissioner of general services may sell and convey
improved, unappropriated state lands by competitive solicitation of
offers through a request for proposals or similar method where in his or
her judgment, a public auction is not in the best interests of the
state. Such solicitation shall document the minimum qualitative and
quantitative factors in addition to sale price to be used as criteria in
the evaluation of offers and the general manner in which the evaluation
process and selection of the most responsive and responsible offeror is
to be conducted. Clarifications may be sought from offerors for purposes
of assuring a full understanding of responsiveness to the solicitation
requirements. Where provided for in the solicitation, revisions may be
permitted from all offerors determined to be eligible for award.
Disclosure of the content of competing offers, other than statistical
tabulations of offers received or of any clarifications or revisions
thereto, shall be prohibited prior to award. All offers or separable
parts thereof may be rejected.

(b) Establishment of the minimum sale price for the competitive
solicitation shall be based upon a certified appraisal or certified
appraisal report as defined in article six-E of the executive law.

(c) The commissioner of general services shall designate at least one
newspaper in the county where the lands to be offered are situate, in
which he or she shall cause a notice of the solicitation to be published
at least once a week for four weeks successively before the date set
forth for receipt of offers.