N.Y. Civ. Serv. Law § 54

§ 54. Age requirements. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the\ncontrary, except as herein provided, neither the state civil service\ndepartment nor the state civil service commission, nor any municipal\ncivil service commission shall prohibit, prevent, disqualify, or\ndiscriminate against, any person who is physically and mentally\nqualified, from participating in a civil service examination or from\nqualifying for a position in the classified civil service, or penalize\nany such person in a final rating by reason of his or her age; and any\nsuch rule, requirement, resolution, regulation or penalization shall be\nvoid. Nothing herein contained, however, shall prevent the adoption of\nreasonable minimum or maximum age requirements for open competitive\nexaminations for positions where it is determined by the department and\napproved by the commission that such age requirements would be\nreasonable minimum qualification for such position. Minimum age\nrequirements shall in no case prohibit an applicant who is within six\nmonths of the minimum age requirement from taking any competitive\nexamination. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prohibit the\ndisqualification, on account of age, of any applicant for a position who\nhas reached the mandatory retirement age applicable by law to such\nposition.\n