N.Y. RSS Law § 76

§ 76. Vested retirement allowance. a. A member who discontinues\nservice other than by death or retirement:\n 1. who has credit for at least five years of total service, or\n 2. who has credit for at least five years of total service, including\na minimum of five years of member service during which the member\ncontributed to the system and/or participated in an\nincreased-take-home-pay or non-contributory plan, and who does not\nwithdraw his or her accumulated contributions, shall be entitled to make\napplication pursuant to section seventy of this article for a vested\nretirement allowance to be effective on or after the first day of the\nmonth following his or her attainment of sixty years of age. The\nretirement allowance provided by this section shall vest automatically\nupon such discontinuance of service by such member.\n 3. In the case of such a member who discontinues service other than by\ndeath or retirement after March thirty-first, nineteen hundred\nsixty-five, who had been contributing toward and/or participating in an\nincreased-take-home-pay or non-contributory plan for retirement on a\nbasis other than retirement at age sixty for five years preceding his or\nher discontinuance of service, he or she shall be entitled to make\napplication for a vested retirement allowance to be effective on or\nafter the first day of the month following his or her attainment of\nfifty-five years of age.\n 4. In the case of a member who discontinues service other than by\ndeath or retirement after March thirty-first, nineteen hundred\nsixty-six, who had been contributing toward retirement on the basis of\nthe plan contained in section eighty of this article for at least five\nyears, he or she shall receive at retirement, on the date when the\nmember would have completed twenty years of service had he or she\ncontinued in the service covered by such section, a retirement allowance\nas computed in accordance with the provisions of subdivision b of this\nsection.\n b. The vested retirement allowance shall be computed and paid in\naccordance with the provisions of the plan of which the member had been\na participant provided, however, that, except for those eligible for\nbenefits pursuant to sections eighty or eighty-a of this chapter, if the\nservice fraction used to compute the retirement allowance or the pension\nprovides a benefit greater than that which would have been provided had\nthe service fraction one-sixtieth been used to compute the benefit, the\nservice fraction one-sixtieth shall be used to compute the vested\nretirement allowance unless such plan shall specify another fraction to\nbe used to compute the vested retirement allowance. Except for those\ncovered for retirement pursuant to sections eighty or eighty-a of this\nchapter the vested retirement allowance shall not be paid before the\nmember attains age fifty-five.\n c. In the event of the death of such member prior to the effective\ndate of his retirement his accumulated contributions shall be paid to\nhis beneficiary or estate in accordance with section fifty-one of this\narticle.\n d. A member may withdraw his accumulated contributions at any time\nsubject to the limitations contained in section fifty-one of this\narticle. The withdrawal of a member's accumulated contributions shall\nterminate his right to a vested retirement allowance.\n