N.Y. SCP Law § 1212

§ 1212. Powers before issuance of letters\n Before letters are issued to him and subject to the provisions of\nsection 1128 of this act the public administrator is authorized to\n 1. Take possession of, collect and secure the personal property\nwithin his county of any person who shall die intestate or testate\neither within this state or elsewhere or whose property shall arrive\nwithin the county after his death whenever there is no person eligible\nto act as fiduciary of an intestate or of a testator if the executor\nnamed in the will refuses or neglects to act or is dead or if his\nwhereabouts are unknown or if he is not eligible to receive letters.\n 2. Take possession of, manage and collect the rents of the real\nproperty of an intestate whose distributees are unknown or whose\ndistributees, if known, are non-domiciliaries, or of a testator, if the\nexecutor named in the will refuses or neglects to act or is dead or if\nhis whereabouts are unknown or if he is not eligible to receive letters.\n 3. Make necessary funeral arrangements for the decedent and to pay\nthe reasonable charges therefor.\n 4. Institute an inquiry as provided by 1216.\n 5. Sell, as and when authorized by the court, perishable property or\nsuch other property of the decedent as the preservation of the estate\nrequires.\n 6. Defray the expenses of the foregoing activities and the expenses\nincidental to his application for letters.\n