Public Health Law 1310
A Podcast from the NY Times CityRoom recently reflected on the the 1978 law that required New York State (this means New York City as well!) residents to pick up after their dogs. Its an interesting piece and it also provides a great opportunity to show how easy it is to find information on New York State laws, both via the free web and through subscription sites available only to NYU students.
First, lets take a look at how you can use Lexisnexis Academic Universe to find this law.
Once you are in Lexisnexis select "Legal" from the Tabs at the top. The select "Federal and State Codes" from the list. Once in this section, type in "Public Health Law 1310" -- make sure to search using "Natural Language" and select "NY. . ." from the source list. The first hit should bring up the law. Not only does Lexisnexis provide the text of the law, but it also has a history of its existence as well as Case Notes.
For those without access to Lexisnexis, here is another option:
The New York State Legislature
From there, you can search through a variety of New York State bills, resolutions and laws. By selecting "Laws of New York" and then typing in "Public Health Law 1310". The record from this site simply provides the text of the law.
And, this is the big difference between paid and free sites. With Lexisnexis you get a better overall picture of what the law is about, its history and context. The NYS Legislature site provides access to the text, but it definitely does not give the extra details that Lexisnexis offers.