New York State Office of General Services Bureau of Land Management Lands Under Water Application Files

Chronological.

The Commissioners of the Land Office had oversight over the granting or selling of State lands, from 1786 to 1960. Prior to the creation of OGS by virtue of the laws of 1960 chapter 459, transfers of jurisdiction were done by resolution of the Land Board/Office and can be found in the minutes of the Land Board/Office. These records may be found in both uplands and lands under water files.

The OGS commissioner has the authority to sell, lease, grant permits and easements for the use of State lands or structures to non-State agency entities under the Public Lands Law Article 2, Section 3, Subdivision 4. OGS has the authority to dispose of State real property by transferring it to non-state entities, including local governments, public authorities, private individuals, corporations, and other entities, through five types of transactions. These transactions include grants (legal transfer of land by letters patent or by deed); easements (right or privilege granted by the commissioner of OGS to use a defined area of State lands for a prescribed purpose and time); leases (for set time limits to owner of adjacent upland, or, with consent of owner of adjacent upland, to others); permits (agreements granting temporary occupancy or use of lands or structures, usually with revocable privileges); and licenses (usually for longer terms and are used primarily with marina and sand and gravel removal applications).

The general procedure for selling or granting State lands involves several steps. The unappropriated State lands need to be declared abandoned. The OGS commissioner may order a survey and map of the unappropriated lands to be sold. The lands are first offered to other state agencies or local governments prior to offering for public sale. The real property is appraised and a minimum bid is set. A legal notice of the sale is placed in a local newspaper where the lands for sale are located. The property is offered for sale to the public through either an open or a sealed bid auction usually at the county seat in which the lands are situated. The purchaser presents a certificate of sale and receipt of payment to the OGS commissioner for the purchase price in whole. Once satisfied, the purchaser's bond is cancelled, and a letters patent is issued. If the purchaser fails to satisfy the purchase-money bond, the OGS commissioner may direct the State Comptroller to sue against the bond or the commissioner may decide to sell the land.

The transaction process for easements, licenses, permits and leases is generally the same as the sale of State land with the exception of a lack of public notification.

This series consists of applications for grants to lands under water. Application types include grant, easement, lease, permit, transfer, transfer of jurisdiction, and license transactions of State lands.

Each file typically consists of an application and accompanying map. Each application gives name of applicant; date; name of attorney for the applicant; notes related to the final determination of application; date patent was ordered to be issued; date of patent; and signature of the attorney general certifying that the application was made in accordance with the provisions of related statutes and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Commissioners of the Land Office. Applications are either bundled together or contained in a folder. For the years 1902-1917, the oversized maps associated with the applications are in separate folders.

Each application also typically includes an affidavit of publication; affidavit of posting notices on court houses; affidavit of applicant; affidavit of county judge or supervisor; affidavit of town clerk or assessors; affidavit of twenty years possession; and map of the grant applied for. Additional records in the files may include correspondence and memorandums, landowner notification and consent forms, environmental assessment forms, easement valuation worksheets, photographs, and project narratives if applicable.

Scanned images of maps contained in this series are available at the New York State Archives.

The Office of General Services digitized maps associated with this series. Currently, maps related to applications submitted from 1802-1885 are available in State Archives Digital Collections.

A0272 Department of State applications for land grants.

B1870 Commissioners of the Land Office minutes.

13633 Bureau of Land Management transfer of jurisdiction files.

Name index is available at the repository.

The index to series B2321 includes applications submitted between 1802 and 1885. The index includes links to a digitized version of the map associated with the application.

B2321-11: This accretion was transferred to the New York State Archives by the Office of General Services, Bureau of Land Management, in June 2011.

B2321-82: This accretion was transferred to the New York State Archives by the Office of General Services, Division of Land Utilization, in August 1982 under RDA 13425, transfer list 810027.

B2321-11, B2321-06A, B2321-14, B2321-19: This accretion was transferred under RDA 13633.

B2321-06: This accretion was transferred under RDAs 13633 and 19268.

B2321-22: This accretion was transferred under RDA 13633 and includes records from transfer list 680031.

B2321-82, B2321-06, B2321-06A, B2321-11, B2321-14: Following a large transfer of records from the Office of General Services' Bureau of Land Management in early 2018, related records at the Archives were examined to ensure they were in the appropriate records series. These accretions were reaccessioned from other series or accretions within B2321. More detailed processing information is available at the repository.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.