N.Y. STL Law § 32

§ 32. Cession during use for purposes thereof, with sundry\nreservations. Title and jurisdiction to the following tract or parcel\nof land has been ceded to the United States by this state upon condition\nthat the jurisdiction so ceded should not prevent the execution on such\ntract of any process, civil or criminal, issued under the authority of\nthis state, nor prevent the laws of the state, not incompatible with the\npurposes for which such cession is made, from operating within the\nbounds of such tract; and that the United States are to retain such\njurisdiction so long only as such tract shall be used for the defense\nand safety of the city of New York:\n 1. At New Utrecht. A tract of land in the town of New Utrecht, Kings\ncounty, on the easterly side of the Narrows, at the entrance into the\nbay of New York, and upon a reef called Hendrick's reef, described as\nfollows: Beginning at the northerly corner thereof, by land of Denyse D.\nDenyse, at high-water mark, and near the southeasterly side of a large\nrock, and running from thence S. 24Á 30' E., 7 chains and 17 links along\nsaid high water mark to the land of Jaques Cortelyou; thence S. 64Á 45'\nW., 24 chains to the southerly corner of the hereby granted premises;\nthence N. 25Á 15' W., 7 chains and 17 links; thence N. 10Á 30' W., 11\nchains and 70 links, to the westerly corner of the hereby granted\npremises; thence S. 86Á E., 24 chains to the place of beginning,\ncontaining 30 acres, 2 roods and 4 perches; all which courses and\nbearings are taken as the magnetic needle pointed November 6, 1812,\nacquired for the defense and safety of the city of New York.\n The free and common passage over the waters aforesaid about the said\ntract, not actually appropriated by the United States for wharves,\nbridges, fortifications or public obstructions, is reserved to the\npeople of this state.\n