§ 18. Acquisition of abandoned railroad transportation property. 1.\nNotwithstanding the provisions of any general, special or local law to\nthe contrary, the commissioner shall have a preferential right to\nacquire, for and in behalf of the people of the state of New York, for\nuse in the future for transportation purposes, as such purposes are set\nforth in this chapter, the highway law or the canal law, any property as\ndefined in subdivision six of this section and which has been abandoned\nfor railroad transportation purposes as defined in subdivision two of\nthis section. No property owner shall dispose of any such property\nwithout having first obtained notification from the commissioner that\nthe preferential right of acquisition granted under this section does\nnot apply, or a release of such preferential right from the\ncommissioner. Conveyances of property in violation of this section shall\nbe null and void. Acquisition of property pursuant to this section shall\nbe in the manner provided by section thirty of the highway law. No\nacquisition shall be made until the director of the budget shall have\nissued a certificate of availability of funds therefor. Before any\nproperty is acquired pursuant to this section, the commissioner shall\ndetermine that it is in the best interests of the state to acquire such\nproperty for use in the future for transportation purposes.\n 1-a. The department of transportation is hereby designated the\nofficial state agency to receive all notifications from the United\nStates department of transportation or any other federal or state agency\nin regard to discontinuance of service or railroad property abandonment\nproceedings, including notification of applications from railroad\ncompanies for any such purposes.\n 1-b. The department of transportation shall promptly inform in writing\nall interested state agencies, transportation authorities, and every\ncounty, city, town and village in which such property is located and the\nappropriate entity designated by the governor pursuant to title IV of\nthe federal intergovernmental cooperation act of nineteen hundred\nsixty-eight and the federal office of management and budget circular\nA-98 of (a) the issuance of any certificate from the United States\ndepartment of transportation or other federal or state agency\nauthorizing discontinuance of railroad service or abandonment of\nrailroad transportation property, (b) approval of discontinuance of\nservice or a determination of abandonment of railroad transportation\nproperty pursuant to this section, and (c) the receipt of an application\nto release a preferential acquisition right to railroad transportation\nproperty pursuant to this section.\n 1-c. Whenever a property owner intends to dispose of abandoned\nrailroad transportation property, it shall notify the department of\ntransportation in writing of its intention. Upon receipt of such\nnotification, the department of transportation shall have ninety days to\nmake a determination and notify the property owner as to the\napplicability of the preferential right of acquisition granted under\nthis section, except that this period may be suspended by the department\nupon its finding that the property owner has not submitted information\nsufficient to enable the department to make its determination. If\nsuspended, this period will resume upon receipt of this required\ninformation. In the event the department fails to notify the property\nowner of its determination, the preferential right of acquisition shall\nbe deemed not to apply. The department shall inform the appropriate\nstate agencies, every metropolitan or regional transportation authority\nand every county, city, town and village in which such railroad property\nor portion thereof is located, of the intention of the property owner\nand the department's finding of applicability of the preferential right\nof acquisition. If notified by the department that the preferential\nright of acqu
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