2006 New York Code - Eligibility For Retirement.

 
    § 441. Eligibility for retirement. a. No member of a retirement system
  who  is  subject  to the provisions of this article shall be eligible to
  retire until he has rendered a minimum of five years of credited service
  after July first, nineteen  hundred  seventy-three;  provided,  however,
  that  this  limitation shall not apply to the case of a member otherwise
  eligible to retire for disability. A member who  attains  the  mandatory
  retirement  age  of  the plan of which he is a member without having the
  requisite period of service required as a condition of  eligibility  for
  retirement,  shall  be  separated  from  service upon attainment of such
  mandatory retirement age; provided, however, that this requirement shall
  not preclude a member  from  being  continued  in  service  beyond  such
  mandatory  retirement  age  pursuant  to other appropriate provisions of
  law.
    b. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision a of this section,  a
  retired member, receiving a retirement allowance for other than physical
  disability:  (i)  who  returns  to  active  public  service and joins or
  rejoins a public retirement system on  or  after  July  first,  nineteen
  hundred  seventy-three;  and  (ii) who thereafter separates from service
  prior to the completion of two years of credited  service,  shall,  upon
  such  separation,  be  entitled  to receive a retirement allowance which
  shall consist of an annuity which is the  actuarial  equivalent  of  his
  accumulated     contributions,     and     the     pension,    including
  pension-providing-for-increased-take-home-pay, which  he  was  receiving
  prior to his last restoration to membership.
    c.  Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision a of this section, a
  member of a retirement system who is subject to the provisions  of  this
  article shall be eligible to retire without having rendered a minimum of
  five  years  of  credited  service  after  July  first, nineteen hundred
  seventy-three, if such member has rendered a minimum of  five  years  of
  continuous  service,  in  the  employ of the participating employer from
  which he retires, immediately prior to retirement. For  the  purpose  of
  this  subdivision,  the  term  "service"  shall  mean  credited  service
  rendered after July first, nineteen  hundred  seventy-three,  and  prior
  service rendered immediately before entry into a retirement system.
    d.  Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision a of this section, a
  member of a retirement system who is subject to the provisions  of  this
  article shall be eligible to retire without having rendered a minimum of
  five  years  of  credited  service  after  July  first, nineteen hundred
  seventy-three if such member has rendered a minimum of  three  years  of
  continuous  service after July first, nineteen hundred seventy-three and
  had rendered at least twenty years of credited service prior to  January
  first, nineteen hundred fifty-five.