N.Y. HAY Law § 21

§ 21. Restoration, preservation and enhancement of natural or scenic\nbeauty. The commissioner of transportation is hereby authorized and\nempowered to acquire property for the restoration, preservation and\nenhancement of natural or scenic beauty of areas traversed by state\nhighways, in order for the state to comply with any federal aid highway\nacts. Acquisition of property for the purposes of this section shall be\nin the manner provided by section thirty of this chapter, except that\nany property in the city of New York, which is deemed by the\ncommissioner of transportation and the city of New York to be necessary\nfor the purposes of this section, shall be acquired by the city of New\nYork in the same manner as provided in section three hundred\nforty-nine-c of this chapter relating to the acquisition of property for\nthe state arterial system in the city of New York. However, any property\nlocated more than six hundred sixty feet from the nearest edge of the\nright of way of any state highway, as shown on the final construction\nplans for such highway on file in the department of transportation,\nshall be acquired for the purposes of this section only by grant or\npurchase. The term "property" as used in this section is defined to\ninclude lands, waters, rights in lands or waters, structures,\nfranchises, and interest in land, including lands under water and\nriparian rights and any and all other things and rights usually included\nwithin the said term and includes also any and all interests in such\nproperty less than full title, such as easements, permanent or\ntemporary, rights-of-way, uses, leases, licenses and all other\nincorporeal hereditaments and every estate, interest or right, legal or\nequitable. Notwithstanding any provision of this section, no property\nmay be appropriated for the purposes of this section which is in areas\nzoned industrial or commercial under authority of state law or areas\nwhich are used predominantly for industrial or commercial activities.\n