N.Y. RPP Law § 314-A

§ 314-a. Proof when witnesses are dead. When the witnesses to a\nconveyance, authorized to be recorded, are dead, its execution may be\nproved before any officer authorized to take within the state the\nacknowledgment and proof of conveyances, other than a commissioner of\ndeeds, a notary public, or a justice of the peace. The proof of the\nexecution must be made by satisfactory evidence of the death of all the\nwitnesses thereto, and of the handwriting of such witnesses, or any one\nof them, and of the grantor, which evidence, with the name and residence\nof each witness examined, must be set forth by the officer taking the\nsame, in his certificate of proof. A conveyance so proved, and\ncertified, may be recorded in the proper office, if the original\nconveyance be at the same time deposited in the same office, there to\nremain for the inspection of all persons desiring to examine the same.\nIf the conveyance affects real property in two or more counties, a\ncertified copy of the conveyance, with the proof and certificates, may\nbe recorded in each of such counties. Such recording and deposit are\nconstructive notice of the execution of such conveyance to all\npurchasers of the same real property, or any part thereof, from the same\nvendor, his heirs or assigns, subsequent to such recording, but do not\nentitle the conveyance or the record thereof, or a transcript of the\nrecord, to be read in evidence.\n