N.Y. Real Prop. Acts. Law § 194

§ 194. Surplus proceeds of sale under purchase-money mortgages.\nWhere, in a case specified in the last section, the mortgagee, or a\nperson claiming under him, causes the land mortgaged to be sold, after\nthe death of the husband, either under a power of sale contained in the\nmortgage, or by virtue of a judgment in an action to foreclose the\nmortgage, and any surplus remains, after payment of the money due on the\nmortgage and the costs and charges of the sale, the widow is\nnevertheless entitled to the interest or income of one-third part of the\nsurplus for her life, as her dower.\n