New York Consolidated Laws, Highway Law - HAY § 21. Restoration, preservation and enhancement of natural or scenic beauty

The commissioner of transportation is hereby authorized and empowered to acquire property for the restoration, preservation and enhancement of natural or scenic beauty of areas traversed by state highways, in order for the state to comply with any federal aid highway acts.  Acquisition of property for the purposes of this section shall be in the manner provided by section thirty of this chapter, except that any property in the city of New York, which is deemed by the commissioner of transportation and the city of New York to be necessary for the purposes of this section, shall be acquired by the city of New York in the same manner as provided in section three hundred forty-nine-c of this chapter relating to the acquisition of property for the state arterial system in the city of New York.  However, any property located more than six hundred sixty feet from the nearest edge of the right of way of any state highway, as shown on the final construction plans for such highway on file in the department of transportation, shall be acquired for the purposes of this section only by grant or purchase.  The term “property” as used in this section is defined to include lands, waters, rights in lands or waters, structures, franchises, and interest in land, including lands under water and riparian rights and any and all other things and rights usually included within the said term and includes also any and all interests in such property less than full title, such as easements, permanent or temporary, rights-of-way, uses, leases, licenses and all other incorporeal hereditaments and every estate, interest or right, legal or equitable.  Notwithstanding any provision of this section, no property may be appropriated for the purposes of this section which is in areas zoned industrial or commercial under authority of state law or areas which are used predominantly for industrial or commercial activities.