N.Y. HAY Law § 3

§ 3. Classification of highways. Highways are hereby divided into five\nclasses.\n 1. State highways are those constructed or improved under this chapter\nat the sole expense of the state, including the highways specified and\ndescribed in sections three hundred and forty and three hundred and\nforty-one of this chapter and acts amendatory thereof, including the\nhighways heretofore classified or referred to as county highways\nelsewhere in this chapter and heretofore constructed or improved at the\njoint expense of state, county and town, or state and county as\nheretofore provided by law.\n 2. Controlled access highways are those state highways which are\nentirely or partly constructed, reconstructed or improved at a location\nwhere no public highway theretofore existed and to and from which the\nowners or occupants of abutting property or of any other persons shall\nhave no right of access either as pedestrians, as operators of vehicles\nor in any other capacity, excepting at junctions of such highways with\nother public highways, and also excepting as such access may be reserved\npursuant to the description and map of the property which has been or\nwhich hereafter shall be acquired in accordance with this chapter for\nthe purpose of such controlled access highways.\n 3. State thruways are those highways specified and described in\nsection three hundred forty-nine-a of this chapter, constructed,\nimproved or reconstructed as provided in such section.\n 4. County roads are those roads constructed, improved, maintained and\nrepaired under article six of this chapter and roads constructed or\nimproved under a general or special law, which are maintained by the\ncounty.\n 5. Town highways are those constructed, improved or maintained by the\ntown with the aid of the state or county, under the provisions of this\nchapter, including all highways in towns, outside of incorporated\nvillages constituting separate road districts which do not belong to\neither of the two preceding classes.\n