N.Y. General Business Law § 282: Packages to be opened and contents sold; proceeds of sale

§ 282. Packages to be opened and contents sold; proceeds of sale. In

case the said property shall remain unclaimed for sixty days after the

said publication, it shall be the duty of the person or company having

possession thereof, to apply to a magistrate of the town or city in

which said property is retained, in whose presence and under whose

direction said property shall be opened and examined, and an inventory

thereof taken by said magistrate; and if the name and residence of the

owner is ascertained by such examination, it shall be the duty of the

magistrate forthwith to direct a notice thereof to such owner, by mail;

and if said property shall remain unclaimed for three months after such

examination, it shall be the further duty of the person or company

having possession thereof to apply to a magistrate as aforesaid; and if

said magistrate shall deem such property of sufficient value, he shall

cause the same to be sold at public auction, giving six days' previous

notice of the time and place of such sale; and from the proceeds of such

sale he shall pay the charges and expenses legally incurred in respect

to said property, or a ratable proportion thereof to each claimant, if

insufficient for the payment of the whole amount; and the balance of the

proceeds of such sale, if any, the said magistrate shall immediately pay

to the public welfare officials of said town or city, for the use of the

poor thereof; and the said public welfare officials shall make an entry

of such amount, and the time of receiving the same, upon their official

records, and it shall be subject, at any time within seven years

thereafter, to be reclaimed by, and refunded to, the owner of such

property, his heirs or assigns, on satisfactory proof of such ownership.