N.Y. Real Property Actions & Proceedings Law § 1124: Execution thereof

§ 1124. Execution thereof. The commissioner or commissioners possess

the same powers, and must proceed in the same manner, as a referee,

appointed by an order requiring the production of the tenant for life,

or proof of his existence; except that they cannot proceed unless a

person is produced before them, as being the person whose death is in

question. The return to the commission must expressly state whether any

person was or was not so produced. The testimony respecting the identity

of a person so produced must be taken, unless otherwise specially

directed by the court, as prescribed by law, for taking the deposition

of a witness upon oral interrogatories except that it is not necessary

to give any other notice of the time and place of examination than that

prescribed in section 1123.