N.Y. General Municipal Law Section 858
Purposes and powers of the agency

The purposes of the agency shall be to promote, develop, encourage and assist in the acquiring, constructing, reconstructing, improving, maintaining, equipping and furnishing industrial, manufacturing, warehousing, commercial, research, renewable energy and recreation facilities including industrial pollution control facilities, educational or cultural facilities, railroad facilities, horse racing facilities, automobile racing facilities, renewable energy projects and continuing care retirement communities, provided, however, that, of agencies governed by this article, only agencies created for the benefit of a county and the agency created for the benefit of the city of New York shall be authorized to provide financial assistance in any respect to a continuing care retirement community, and thereby advance the job opportunities, health, general prosperity and economic welfare of the people of the state of New York and to improve their recreation opportunities, prosperity and standard of living; and to carry out the aforesaid purposes, each agency shall have the following powers:

(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 purposes;

(4)

To acquire by purchase, grant, lease, gift, pursuant to the provisions of the eminent domain procedure law, or otherwise and to use, real property or rights or easements therein necessary for its corporate purposes in compliance with the local zoning and planning regulations and shall take into consideration regional and local comprehensive land use plans and state designated heritage area management plans, and to sell, convey, mortgage, lease, pledge, exchange or otherwise dispose of any such property in such manner as the agency shall determine. In the case of railroad facilities, however, the phrase to use real property or rights or easements therein shall not be interpreted to include operation by the agency of rail service upon or in conjunction with such facilities.

(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 a project or projects.

(6)

With the consent of the municipality, to use agents, employees and facilities of the municipality, paying the municipality 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 agency, provided, however, that an elected officer of the municipality may not serve as a compensated officer, agent or employee of the agency;

(8)

(a) To appoint an attorney, who may be the counsel of the municipality, 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;

(b)

An attorney acting as bond counsel for a project must file with the agency 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 agency 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 agency.

(9)

To make contracts and leases, and to execute all instruments necessary or convenient to or with any person, firm, partnership or corporation, either public or private; provided, however, that any extension of an existing contract, lease or other agreement entered into by an agency with respect to a project shall be guided by the provisions of this article;

(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 grant options to renew any lease with respect to any project or projects and to grant options to buy any project at such price as the agency may deem desirable;

(14)

To designate the depositories of its money either within or without the state;

(15)

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 agency 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 agency’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;

(16)

To establish and re-establish its fiscal year; and

(17)

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

Source: Section 858 — Purposes and powers of the agency, https://www.­nysenate.­gov/legislation/laws/GMU/858 (updated Feb. 17, 2023; accessed Jul. 26, 2025).

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Verified:
Jul. 26, 2025

Last modified:
Feb. 17, 2023

§ 858. Purposes & powers of the agency's source at nysenate​.gov

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