be confidential and shall only be made available to a district attorney or police officer conducting a criminal investigation or prosecution relating to an adult care facility and only upon the written request of the investigating officer or district attorney; or to a court or to the presiding officer of an administrative proceeding and the parties to such proceeding if, with the consent of the persons providing such information, it is to be utilized by the department or any other state or local agency or subdivision in such proceeding. If a party is not provided with the identity of a person providing information in accordance with the provisions of this section, the fact that such confidential report was made shall in no way be relied upon by any court or presiding officer of an administrative proceeding in the course of reaching a determination in such proceeding. The department shall, consistent with the provisions of this section, adopt such regulations as may be necessary to preserve the confidentiality of persons making such complaints. § 6. This act shall take effect immediately. CHAPTER 849 AN ACT authorizing the city of New York to reconvey its interest in certain real property acquired by in rem tax foreclosure in the borough of Manhattan to former owner Margaret Luka, without public auction and notwithstanding expiration of the two year period within which application may be made to the city to release its interest in property thus acquired; Block No. 722, Lot No. 74 on tax map for the borough of Manhattan Became a law November 17, 1992, with the approval of the Governor. Passed on Home Rule request pursuant to Article IX, section 2(b) (2) of the Constitution by a majority vote, three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. Findings. On April 23, 1987, through Manhattan in rem tax foreclosure action, the city of New York acquired title to premises designated as lot #74 in tax block 722, also known as 258 10th Ave. Manhattan, based on non-payment of taxes due to inadvertence and lack of notice to the former owner of the premises or her heirs. Pursuant to sections 11-424 and 11-424. 1 of the administrative code of the city of New York, the city may release its interest in property thus acquired if an application for such a release is filed with the city's department of general services within two years of the date on which the city's deed is recorded and if such application is approved by the in rem foreclosure release board. Since that period has now elapsed, and pending the effectiveness of a chapter of the laws of 1992 authorizing the in rem foreclosure release board to authorize the release of property where an application for such release is made more than two years after the date of the city's acquisition thereof, state legislation is necessary to restore said property to the aforesaid owner. In addition, since the New York city charter requires that the sale of city owned property be at public auction or by sealed bids (except as otherwise provided by law), state legislative authorization is necessary to permit said reconvey§ 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of general, special or local law, charter or administrative code to the contrary and subject to section three of this act, the city of New York is hereby authorized to release its interest in and reconvey the real property designated as tax block #722, lot #74, on the tax map of the city for the borough of Manhattan as said map was on April 23, 1987, to the record owner of said property on such date or to the successors-in-interest of the record ance. owner. § 3. Such release and reconveyance shall be made only upon the approval of the in rem foreclosure release board established by section 11-424.1 of the administrative code of the city of New York, subject to the grantees or grantee meeting the following conditions precedent: (a) Submit an application for release in writing to the city commissioner of general services accompanied by a certified title search, affidavit of ownership, and all fees and payments as otherwise required by section 11-424 of the administrative code of the city of New York. (b) Pay all taxes, interest, penalties and charges otherwise required by section 11-424 of the administrative code of the city of New York upon approval of the application by the in rem foreclosure release board. a § 4. This chapter of the laws of 1992 shall not be deemed to be the chapter upon the effectiveness of which paragraph (2) of subdivision of section 11-424 of the administrative code of the city of New York, under local law, depends. Accordingly, the provisions of such paragraph (2) shall not apply to the release and reconveyance authorized to be made herein. § 5. This act shall take effect immediately. CHAPTER 850 AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to applications for determinations of public need for purposes of providing emergency medical services Became a law November 17, 1992, with the approval of the Governor. Passed by a majority vote, three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. Section 3008 of the public health law is amended by adding a new subdivision 6 to read as follows: 6. In the case of an application for certification under this article by a municipal ambulance service to serve the area within the municipality, and the municipal ambulance service meets appropriate training, staffing and equipment standards, there should be a presumption in favor of approving the application. § 2. This act shall take effect immediately. CHAPTER 851 AN ACT to amend the business corporation law, in relation to certain corporate mergers, consolidations and other reorganizations Became a law December 2, 1992, with the approval of the Governor. Passed by a majority vote, three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. Section 1513 of the business corporation law, as amended by chapter 505 of the laws of 1983, is amended to read as follows: EXPLANATION-Matter in italics is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law § 1513. Business corporation law applicable. This chapter, except article thirteen and article fifteen-A, shall be applicable to a professional service corporation except to the extent that the provisions thereof conflict with this article. A professional service corporation may consolidate or merge only with another corporation organized under this article or authorized to do business in this state under article fifteen-A of this chapter or authorized and registered to practice the same profession pursuant to the applicable provisions of subdivision six of section seventy-two hundred nine of the education law or subdivision four of section seventy-three hundred seven of the education law, and only if all of the professions practiced by such corporations could be practiced by a single corporation organized under this article. § 2. Section 1516 of the business corporation law, as amended by chapter 505 of the laws of 1983, is amended to read as follows: 1516. Corporate mergers, consolidations and other reorganizations. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of this article, a professional service corporation, pursuant to the provisions of article nine of this chapter, may be merged or consolidated with another corporation formed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter or with a corporation authorized and registered to practice the same profession pursuant to the applicable provisions of subdivision six of section seventy-two hundred nine of the education law (engineer or land surveyor) or subdivision four of section seventy-three hundred seven of the education law (architect) of article one hundred forty-five of the education law, or with a foreign corporation, or may be otherwise reorganized, provided that the corporation which survives or which is formed pursuant thereto is a professional service corporation or a foreign professional service corporation practicing the same profession or professions in this state or the state of incorporation or, if one of the original corporations is authorized to practice pursuant to the provisions of either subdivision six of section seven thousand two hundred nine or subdivision four of section seven thousand three hundred seven, a corporation authorized and registered to practice the same profession pursuant to the applicable provisions of subdivision six of section seventy-two hundred nine of the education law (engineer or land surveyor) or subdivision four of section seventy-three hundred seven of the education law (architect) of article one hundred forty-five of the education law. The restrictions on the issuance transfer or sale of shares of a professional service corporation shall be suspended for a period not exceeding thirty days with respect to any issuance, transfer or sale of shares made pursuant to such merger, consolidation or reorganization, provided that (i) no person who would not be eligible to be a shareholder in the absence of this section shall vote the shares of or receive any distribution from such corporation; (ii) after such merger, consolidation or reorganization, any professional service corporation which survives or which is created thereby shall be subject to all of the provisions of this article, and (iii) shares thereafter only may be held by persons who are eligible to receive shares of such professional service corporation or such other corporation authorized and registered to practice the same profession pursuant to the applicable provisions of subdivision six of section seventy-two hundred nine of the education law (engineer or land surveyor) or subdivision four of section seventy-three hundred seven of the education law (architect) of article one hundred forty-five of the edu cation law, which survives. Nothing herein contained shall be construed as permitting the practice of a profession in this state by a corporation which is not incorporated pursuant to the provisions of this article or authorized to do business in this state pursuant to the provi sions of article fifteen-A of this chapter or authorized and registered to practice a profession pursuant to the applicable provisions of article one hundred forty-five of the education law. For the purposes of this section, other reorganizations shall be limited to those zations defined in paragraph one of subsection (a) of section three hundred sixty-eight of the internal revenue code. reorgani CHAPTER 852 AN ACT to amend chapter 514 of the laws of 1979, relating to community school district boundaries in the city school district of the city of New York, in relation to extending the effectiveness of the provisions of such chapter Became a law December 4, 1992, with the approval of the Governor. Passed on message of necessity pursuant to Article III, section 14 of the Constitution by a majority vote, three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. Legislative findings and intent. The legislature hereby finds that the existing boundaries of community school board districts in the city of New York provide for appropriate delivery of services and are sufficient and effective in order to serve the educational needs of New York city. It is further found that while existing criteria for districts may need to be revisited by the legislature, postponement of community school board elections a second time would unnecessarily disrupt the delivery of educational services to New York city's school children without providing an appropriate corresponding benefit. Currently, the legislature is developing significant structural changes to the governance system which has resulted in requiring all levels of the educational institutions to focus their attention on educational matters. It is critical that attention to the educational needs of the children be the primary goal of the schools and that changes to the electoral process at this time would create turmoil and serve only to distract the system from its primary purpose of providing an effective education system. The legislature recognizes the important changes in the demographics of New York's population reported by the 1990 federal decennial census. The population of the city of New York has changed dramatically over the past decade with major growth trends in the Latino, Asian, and African American communities. The legislature recognizes the importance of the voting power of these racial groups in community school board elections and, in fact, the existing system of proportional representation was initially instituted in order to increase minority representation community school boards, which, in fact, it has. on Any redistricting of the community school boards must provide extensive opportunity to all residents of the city of New York to fully participate in the redistricting process. Therefore, the legislature declares that it is in the best interest of the educational community to extend the existing boundaries until January, 1995, so that new district lines can be developed which fully comply with the federal Voting Rights Act and the one person/one vote doctrine. § 2. Section 1 of chapter 514 of the laws of 1979, relating to community schooldistrict boundaries in the city school district of the city of New York, as amended by chapter 901 of the laws of 1985, is amended to read as follows: Section 1. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law to the contrary, the board of education of the city school district of the city of New York is hereby authorized to continue the community school district boundaries existing on July first, nineteen hundred seventy-three, to January first, nineteen hundred [éighty-nine] ninety-five, without change. § 3. This act shall take effect immediately. EXPLANATION-Matter in italics is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law AN CHAPTER 853 ACT to amend the transportation law and the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to the regulation of van services and certain other common carriers of passengers in cities with a population of over one million Became a law December 4, 1992, with the approval of the Governor. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. Subdivision 35 of section 2 of the transportation law, as added by chapter 635 of the laws of 1983, is amended to read as follows: 35. "Van service" is a sub-classification of common carrier of passengers by motor vehicle that provides service on a prearranged regular daily basis between a zone in a residential neighborhood and a location which shall be a work related central location, a mass transit or mass transportation facility, a shopping center or recreational facility, but shall not include service to or from an airport. Such service is usually characterized by the use of vehicles having a seating capacity of twenty passengers or less. Provided, however, that if a city with a population of over one million adopts a local law or ordinance pursuant to subdivision five of section eighty of this chapter, the term "van service" as it applies to van service in such city shall include service that otherwise meets the requirements of this subdivision but is service to or from an airport or involves the use of vehicles having a seating capacity of more than twenty passengers. § 2. Subdivision 4 of section 80 of the transportation law, as added by chapter 635 of the laws of 1983, is amended to read as follows: 4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commissioner shall not have jurisdiction over the regulation of aný bus line operations that are wholly within the boundaries of any city when such city has adopted an ordinance, local law or charter to regulate or franchise bus line operations, except that the commissioner shall have jurisdiction with respect to safety of operation of motor vehicles and self-insurance requirements of such bus lines. The commissioner shall, however, have exclusive jurisdiction over the regulation of common carriers of passengers by motor vehicle that provide operations on a prearranged basis over non-specified or irregular routes within a city, except as provided subdivision five of this section or as otherwise provided in this chapter. It is further provided, however, that once the commissioner issues a certificate to a motor carrier to operate as a common carrier of passengers by motor vehicle, such motor carrier shall be under the exclusive jurisdiction of the commissioner with respect to the service performed under such certificate, except as provided in subdivision five of this section. in § 3. Subdivision 5 of section 80 of the transportation law, as added by chapter 635 of the laws of 1983, is amended to read as follows: 5. a. (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in any city with a population of over one million, the commissioner shall not have jurisdiction over the regulation of any van service[,] or other common carrier of passengers by motor vehicle covered under article seven of this chapter when such van service or other such common carrier is operated wholly within the boundaries of such city or is operated partly within such city if the partial operation consists of the pick up and discharge of passengers wholly within such city, when such city has adopted an ordinance, local law or charter to regulate or franchise such operations, except that the commissioner shall have jurisdiction with respect to the safety of operation of motor vehicles operated as van services or other such common carriers of passengers. Such local law or ordinance shall: (i) designate a city agency which will assume the regulatory responsibility, (ii) [provide adequate coordination between regulation and government funding programs for all privately owned and publicly owned mass transportation common carrier and commuter systems, (iii)] contain regulations for the issuance of [temporary] operating authority [or perm nent certification which, to the extent possible, conform to t |