420-a. Nonprofit organizations; mandatory class. 1. (a) Real property owned by a corporation or association organized or conducted exclusively for religious, charitable, hospital, educational, or moral or mental improvement of men, women or children purposes, or for two or more such purposes, and used exclusively for carrying out thereupon one or more of such purposes either by the owning corporation or association or by another such corporation or association as hereinafter provided shall be exempt from taxation as provided in this section.
(b) Real property such as specified in paragraph (a) of this subdivision shall not be exempt if any officer, member or employee of the owning corporation or association shall receive or may be lawfully entitled to receive any pecuniary profit from the operations thereof, except reasonable compensation for services in effecting one or more of such purposes, or as proper beneficiaries of its strictly charitable purposes; or if the organization thereof for any such avowed purposes be a guise or pretense for directly or indirectly making any other pecuniary profit for such corporation or association or for any of its members or employees; or if it be not in good faith organized or conducted exclusively for one or more of such purposes.
2. If any portion of such real property is not so used exclusively to carry out thereupon one or more of such purposes but is leased or otherwise used for other purposes, such portion shall be subject to taxation and the remaining portion only shall be exempt; provided, however, that such real property shall be fully exempt from taxation although it or a portion thereof is used (a) for purposes which are exempt pursuant to this section or sections four hundred twenty-b, four hundred twenty-two, four hundred twenty-four, four hundred twenty-six, four hundred twenty-eight, four hundred thirty or four hundred fifty of this chapter by another corporation which owns real property exempt from taxation pursuant to such sections or whose real property if it owned any would be exempt from taxation pursuant to such sections, (b) for purposes which are exempt pursuant to section four hundred six or section four hundred eight of this chapter by a corporation which owns real property exempt from taxation pursuant to such section or if it owned any would be exempt from taxation pursuant to such section, (c) for purposes which are exempt pursuant to section four hundred sixteen of this chapter by an organization which owns real property exempt from taxation pursuant to such section or whose real property if it owned any would be exempt from taxation pursuant to such section, (d) for purposes relating to civil defense pursuant to the New York state defense emergency act, including but not limited to activities in preparation for anticipated attack, during attack, or following attack or false warning thereof, or in connection with drill or test ordered or directed by civil defense authorities, or (e) for purposes of a tax-free NY area that has been approved pursuant to article twenty-one of the economic development law, subject to the conditions that the real property must have been owned by the corporation or association organized exclusively for educational purposes and exempt pursuant to this section on June first, two thousand thirteen, and that the exemption shall apply only to the portion of such real property that is used for purposes of the START-UP NY program; and provided further that such real property shall be exempt from taxation only so long as it or a portion thereof, as the case may be, is devoted to such exempt purposes and so long as any moneys paid for such use do not exceed the amount of the carrying, maintenance and depreciation charges of the property or portion thereof, as the case may be.
3. Such real property from which no revenue is derived shall be exempt though not in actual use therefor by reason of the absence of suitable buildings or improvements thereon if (a) the construction of such buildings or improvements is in progress or is in good faith contemplated by such corporation or association or (b) such real property is held by such corporation or association upon condition that the title thereto shall revert in case any building not intended and suitable for one or more such purposes shall be erected upon such premises or some part thereof.
4. Such real property shall be so exempt although it is used as a polling place upon days of registration and election.
5. Such real property owned and actually used for hospital purposes by a free public hospital which depends for maintenance and support upon voluntary charity, shall be so exempt from taxation although a portion thereof is leased or otherwise used for the purposes of income, if such income is necessary for and is actually applied to the maintenance and support of such hospital.
6. Such real property outside a city owned by a free public library or held in trust by an educational corporation for free library purposes shall be so exempt from taxation although a portion thereof is leased or otherwise used for purposes of income, if such income is necessary for and is actually applied to the maintenance and support of such library.
7. Real property which was, on the first day of January, nineteen hundred eighty-three owned for more than one hundred years by a corporation organized exclusively for purposes specified in subdivision one of this section under a grant or devise and a special charter granted by the legislature of the state of New York subject to conditions which raise doubt as to the power of such corporation to convey fee title to the property shall, if the property is used exclusively for educational purposes by an educational corporation which owns real property exempt from taxation, or whose real property if it owned any would be exempt from taxation, as lessee for a term of not less than twenty-five years and if such lease were in effect on the first day of January, nineteen hundred eighty-three and requires the lessee to pay all taxes levied against the property, be exempt from taxation to the same extent and subject to the same conditions and exceptions as property owned and used for educational purposes by a corporation organized exclusively for educational purposes, regardless of whether the moneys paid to the lessor by the lessee are limited to the amount of the carrying, maintenance and depreciation charges of the property.
8. Real property exempt from taxation pursuant to this section shall also be exempt from special ad valorem levies and special assessments to the extent provided in section four hundred ninety of this chapter.
9. In addition to the exemption provided in this section, any stadium facility owned by a corporation organized exclusively for educational purposes which is constructed in whole or in substantial part with state funds shall be exempt from taxation notwithstanding its use by the state, by a municipal corporation for a public use, or by or for not-for-profit organizations.
10. Real property, which on the first day of January, nineteen hundred ninety was exempt from real property taxation pursuant to this section by reason of the ownership and use of such property by a corporation organized exclusively for educational purposes, and which the fee title to such property is conveyed prior to June thirtieth, nineteen hundred ninety-one to a governmental entity, shall be exempt from taxation; provided that (a) as a condition of such conveyance such property is leased, for a term or terms exceeding one hundred years, to an educational corporation whose real property, when used for educational purposes, is exempt from taxation, and (b) such property shall continue to be used by such corporation exclusively for educational purposes subject to the same conditions and exceptions as property owned and used for educational purposes by a corporation organized exclusively for such purposes.
11. An exemption may be granted pursuant to this section upon application by the owner on a form prescribed by the commissioner or any comparable form, which application may be filed with the assessor of the appropriate county, city, town or village on or before the applicable taxable status date. Where the assessor receives no such application, the assessor may nevertheless grant the exemption provided the assessor personally inspects the property and certifies in writing that it satisfies all of the requirements for exemption set forth in this section. Where property is not granted an exemption pursuant to this section, the owner may seek judicial review pursuant to article seven of this chapter or article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules.
12. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or any other law to the contrary, real property, the fee title to which was acquired on March twenty-third, nineteen hundred ninety-four pursuant to a mortgage foreclosure sale conducted by the federal deposit insurance corporation, by a corporation or association organized exclusively for educational purposes, and which was used exclusively by such corporation or association for carrying out thereupon educational purposes during the period beginning on the date the fee title was acquired by such corporation or association and ending on June thirtieth, nineteen hundred ninety-five, shall be exempt from taxation for such period as provided in this section. The city of New York may negotiate and execute with the owner of real property in the city of New York qualifying for exemption under this subdivision, an agreement for the payment of unpaid real property taxes and interest thereon that accrued on such property prior to the date on which the fee title to such property was acquired by such owner. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or the administrative code of the city of New York or any other law to the contrary, such agreement may require that payment of such taxes and interest thereon be made in quarterly installments over a period not to exceed thirty years.
* 13. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or any other law to the contrary, real property, the fee title to which was acquired on March twenty-third, nineteen hundred ninety-four pursuant to a mortgage foreclosure sale conducted by the federal deposit insurance corporation by a corporation or association organized exclusively for educational purposes, and which has been used exclusively by such corporation or association for carrying out thereupon educational purposes since the date on which the fee title was acquired by such corporation or association, and is currently being used for such purposes, shall be exempt from taxation as provided in this section and the city of New York may cancel and annul any unpaid real property taxes that accrued on such real property prior to the date on which the fee title to such property was acquired by such owner together with any interest accruing on such unpaid real property taxes.
* NB There are 2 sub 13's
* 13. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or any other law to the contrary, real property in block 1272 in the borough of Brooklyn, the fee title to which was acquired in 1997 or 1998 in order to establish a museum and center for children by a not-for-profit corporation or association organized exclusively for charitable purposes, and which has been used exclusively by such corporation or association for carrying out thereupon charitable purposes since the date on which the fee title was acquired by such corporation or association, shall be exempt from taxation as provided in this section and the city of New York may cancel and annul any unpaid real property taxes that accrued on such real property prior to the date on which the fee title to such property was acquired by such owner together with any interest accruing such unpaid real property taxes.
* NB There are 2 sub 13's
14. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or any other law to the contrary, real property in block 1175 in the county of Kings leased to the unified court system for the establishment and operation of a court officer academy authorized pursuant to section two hundred nineteen-b of the judiciary law shall be exempt from taxation for the duration of such lease provided that such property shall be used for such purpose and provided that title to such property shall not be conveyed to another owner at any time during the duration of such lease.
Last modified: February 3, 2019