N.Y. Civ. Serv. Law § 54

§ 54. Age and educational requirements. 1. Notwithstanding any\nprovision of law to the contrary, except as herein provided, neither the\nstate civil service department nor the state civil service commission,\nnor any municipal civil service commission shall prohibit, prevent,\ndisqualify, or discriminate against, any person who is physically and\nmentally qualified, from participating in a civil service examination or\nfrom qualifying for a position in the classified civil service, or\npenalize any such person in a final rating by reason of his or her age;\nand any such rule, requirement, resolution, regulation or penalization\nshall be void. Nothing herein contained, however, shall prevent the\nadoption of reasonable minimum or maximum age requirements for open\ncompetitive examinations for positions where it is determined by the\ndepartment and approved by the commission that such age requirements\nwould be reasonable minimum qualification for such position. Minimum age\nrequirements shall in no case prohibit an applicant who is within twelve\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 2. Minimum education requirements shall in no case prohibit an\napplicant who is within twelve months of obtaining the minimum education\nrequirements from taking any competitive examination.\n