2006 New York Code - Contested Claims.

 
    §  96.  Contested claims. The master, owner, agent or consignee of the
  vessel, or any person having an interest in the  proceeds  before  final
  distribution  thereof,  may contest any claim made against the vessel or
  its proceeds, by filing with such justice a written answer, verified  as
  a  pleading  in  a court of record, designating the claims contested and
  controverting any material allegation of the notice of lien, application
  for a warrant or statement of lien, and setting up any other  matter  in
  defense  thereto. A copy of such answer shall be served within five days
  from such filing, upon the person  whose  claim  is  contested,  or  his
  attorney.
    If  the answer does not contain any matter of defense to the claim, it
  may be stricken out on motion of any person who has filed  a  notice  of
  lien against the vessel.