919-a. Block indices in the office of the county clerk in the county of Richmond. a. The county clerk of the county of Richmond shall continue to index under the proper block numbers all instruments now required by law to be recorded in the books of notices of lis pendens. Such block index of notice of lis pendens shall be entitled "the block index of notice of lis pendens" and shall be ruled for entering therein the date of filing, the nature of the action, the nature of the instrument, the court and index number, the first named defendant, the first named plaintiff, the lot number or street address, if any, the microfilm number and the proceedings had.
b. Such county clerk shall also continue to index under the proper block numbers all statutory notices of liens or claims on land other than lis pendens which may be filed or recorded in his office, which index shall be entitled "the block index of liens" and shall be ruled for entering therein the date of filing, the nature of the instrument, the owner of the premises affected by the notice, the name and address of the lienor by whom the claim is made, the amount, the lot number or street address, if any, and the proceeding had.
c. On and after July first, nineteen hundred eighty-one, the use of land maps in the office of the county clerk of the county of Richmond shall be discontinued, and the land maps previously in use shall remain on file for the purpose of reference. On and after such date, the tax map for the borough of Staten Island shall be substituted for the land map theretofore in use for the county of Richmond, and reference shall be had to such tax map and to the block numbers designated thereon for the purpose of indexing instruments required to be indexed in the block index of notice of lis pendens or in the block index of liens. Such tax map shall be conclusive as to the location of block boundaries and block number designations. Such tax map may be referred to as the land map for the county of Richmond.
d. Unless existing land and tax blocks are presently identical, on and after July first, nineteen hundred eighty-one, the indices of all blocks theretofore existing in the block index of notice of lis pendens and in the block index of liens shall be closed except for the purpose of completing the indexing of instruments filed prior to such date. New block indices shall thereupon be opened for the block index of notice of lis pendens and for the block index of liens, which new indices shall be numbered to conform with the block numbers designated on the tax map of the borough of Staten Island and shall thenceforth be used for all entries relating to land in such blocks. The date of closing shall be entered at the end of each block index so closed and a reference shall be made to the block number of the corresponding block in the new block index. All such new block indices shall be endorsed on the covers thereof so as to show the date of the opening thereof.
e. Whenever the boundaries of any block on the tax map shall thereafter be changed or altered and renumbered according to law, the block indices of notice of lis pendens and of liens of such block theretofore existing comprising the land in the changed or altered block so renumbered as aforesaid shall, except for the purpose of completing the indexing of instruments filed prior to such change or alteration and renumbering be closed and discontinued and new block indices of notice of lis pendens and of liens shall be opened for every such renumbered block, which new index shall thenceforth be used for all entries relating to land in such block. The date of closing shall be entered at the end of each block index so closed and a reference shall be made to the number of every new, changed or altered block to be used in place thereof. The date of opening shall be entered at the beginning of every new block index, with a reference to the number of every block before in use for the land contained in such new block.
f. Every instrument presented to the county clerk of the county of Richmond for filing and required to be indexed in the block index of notice of lis pendens or in the block index of liens in order to entitle the same to be filed shall have endorsed thereon the number of every block on the current tax map in which the land affected by such instrument is situate.
g. Such county clerk, so long as he deems it expedient, may prepare alphabetical indices of the parties to the instruments mentioned in this section, or to any of them, filed in his office, and of the owners of land against which liens have been filed and of judgment debtors whose names appear on record. The particular form of such alphabetical indices shall be as such county clerk shall determine, and shall cover such periods and be brought down to such dates as he shall direct in respect to his own office.
h. Whenever any instrument entitled to be filed and indexed under the provisions of this section shall be presented for record, there shall forthwith be endorsed thereon the date, hour and minute of its receipt and the same shall be entered in the proper index under the proper block number thereof in accordance with the items set forth in subdivision a or b of this section.
i. The entries made in the block indices of notice of lis pendens and of liens in conformity with the requirements of this section shall for the purpose of notice be deemed and taken to be a part of the record of the instrument to which such entries respectively refer, and shall be notice to subsequent purchasers or incumbrancers to the same extent and with like effect as the filing of such instruments in the office of such county clerk now is or may be notice.
j. In cases where any instrument shall have been filed with an erroneous designation, such county clerk on presentation of proper proof thereof shall enter such instrument in the proper index under the proper block number of every block, the designation of which shall have been erroneously stated. He shall at the same time make a note of such entry and of the date thereof in every place in which such instrument may have been erroneously indexed, opposite the entry thereof, and also upon the instrument itself, if the same be in his possession or produced to him for the purpose, and the record of such instrument shall be constructive notice as to the property in any block not duly designated at the time of such filing only from the time when the same shall be properly indexed.
Last modified: February 3, 2019