N.Y. Civil Practice Law & Rules § 4521: Lack of record

Rule 4521. Lack of record. A statement signed by an officer or a

deputy of an officer having legal custody of specified official records

of the United States or of any state, territory or jurisdiction of the

United States, or of any court thereof, or kept in any public office

thereof, that he has made diligent search of the records and has found

no record or entry of a specified nature, is prima facie evidence that

the records contain no such record or entry, provided that the statement

is accompanied by a certificate that legal custody of the specified

official records belongs to such person, which certificate shall be made

by a person described in rule 4540.