New York
Freedom of Information Law
Pub. Off. Law § 84 et seq. (FOIL)
Public records law for New York. Covers state agencies, counties, municipalities, school districts, and special districts.
The clock
5 business days
5 business days to acknowledge; 20 business days to grant/deny (plus reasonable extension).
Statutory: 5 business days to acknowledge; 20 business days to grant/deny (plus reasonable extension).. Actual medians vary widely by agency and request complexity; simple requests often 7-30 days, complex 60-300+.
Reading the statute itself
The text of this one is not reproduced here. The United States Code carries no copyright, so federal FOIA is printed on this site in full; the fifty state codes are published by fifty legislatures under their own claims of compilation copyright, so they are linked instead. Everything on this page — the deadline, the appeal path, the fee-waiver standard — is Aletheca’s summary of that text, and the official source is one click away.
If they refuse
- Appeal deadline
- Not specified
- Appeal route
- Administrative appeal to agency appeals officer within 30 days; then Article 78 in supreme court.
- Litigation
- Not specified
Fees and expedition
Quirks worth knowing
FOIL is detailed; Committee on Open Government advisory opinions influential.