Quoted:
Gun shops are selling "other" AR firearms and I have not yet heard of an arrest and/or conviction.  I personally would not want to take a chance on the legality of the grey area in Federal Law being recognized by New York Courts.  There are members of the New York Hometown whose opinion differs from mine but I am more risk adverse by virtue of having a professional license at stake.  You roll the dice and take your chances any time you end up in the New York Criminal Injustice system.

Quoted:
The risk increases geometrically the closer you get to NYC. Greatest risk in the metro NYC area is Rockland, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk counties with Westchester and Nassau in the top two.

3. "Firearm" means (a) any pistol or revolver; or (b) a shotgun having
 one or more barrels less than eighteen inches in length; or (c) a  rifle
 having  one  or  more barrels less than sixteen inches in length; or (d)
 any  weapon  made  from  a  shotgun  or  rifle  whether  by  alteration,
 modification,  or  otherwise  if  such  weapon  as altered, modified, or
 otherwise has an overall length of less than twenty-six inches;  or  (e)
 an assault weapon. For the purpose of this subdivision the length of the
 barrel  on  a  shotgun  or  rifle  shall  be determined by measuring the
 distance between the muzzle  and  the  face  of  the  bolt,  breech,  or
 breechlock  when  closed  and  when  the shotgun or rifle is cocked; the
 overall length of a weapon made from a shotgun or rifle is the  distance
 between the extreme ends of the weapon measured along a line parallel to
 the  center  line  of  the  bore.  Firearm  does  not include an antique
 firearm.

11. "Rifle" means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and
 intended  to  be  fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned and
 made or remade to use the energy of the explosive in  a  fixed  metallic
 cartridge  to  fire  only  a single projectile through a rifled bore for
 each single pull of the trigger.

21. "Semiautomatic" means any  repeating  rifle,  shotgun  or  pistol,
 regardless  of barrel or overall length, which utilizes a portion of the
 energy of a firing cartridge or shell to  extract  the  fired  cartridge
 case  or  spent  shell  and chamber the next round, and which requires a
 separate pull of the trigger to fire each cartridge or shell.
   22. "Assault weapon" means
   (a) a semiautomatic rifle that has an ability to accept  a  detachable
 magazine and has at least one of the following characteristics:
   (i) a folding or telescoping stock;
   (ii)  a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of
 the weapon;
   (iii) a thumbhole stock;
   (iv) a second handgrip or a protruding grip that can be  held  by  the
 non-trigger hand;
   (v) a bayonet mount;
   (vi) a flash suppressor, muzzle break, muzzle compensator, or threaded
 barrel  designed  to  accommodate  a  flash suppressor, muzzle break, or
 muzzle compensator;
   (vii) a grenade launcher; or
   (b) a semiautomatic shotgun that has at least  one  of  the  following
 characteristics:
   (i) a folding or telescoping stock;
   (ii) a thumbhole stock;
   (iii)  a  second handgrip or a protruding grip that can be held by the
 non-trigger hand;
   (iv) a fixed magazine capacity in excess of seven rounds;
   (v) an ability to accept a detachable magazine; or
   (c) a semiautomatic pistol that has an ability to accept a  detachable
 magazine and has at least one of the following characteristics:
   (i) a folding or telescoping stock;
   (ii) a thumbhole stock;
   (iii)  a  second handgrip or a protruding grip that can be held by the
 non-trigger hand;
   (iv) capacity to accept an ammunition magazine that  attaches  to  the
 pistol outside of the pistol grip;
   (v)  a  threaded  barrel capable of accepting a barrel extender, flash
 suppressor, forward handgrip, or silencer;
   (vi) a  shroud  that  is  attached  to,  or  partially  or  completely
 encircles,  the  barrel and that permits the shooter to hold the firearm
 with the non-trigger hand without being burned;
   (vii) a manufactured weight of fifty ounces or more when the pistol is
 unloaded; or
   (viii) a semiautomatic version  of  an  automatic  rifle,  shotgun  or
 firearm;
   (d) a revolving cylinder shotgun;
   (e)  a semiautomatic rifle, a semiautomatic shotgun or a semiautomatic
 pistol or weapon  defined  in  subparagraph  (v)  of  paragraph  (e)  of
 subdivision  twenty-two  of  section  265.00 of this chapter as added by
 chapter one  hundred  eighty-nine  of  the  laws  of  two  thousand  and
 otherwise lawfully possessed pursuant to such chapter of the laws of two
 thousand prior to September fourteenth, nineteen hundred ninety-four;
   (f)  a semiautomatic rifle, a semiautomatic shotgun or a semiautomatic
 pistol  or  weapon  defined  in  paragraph  (a),  (b)  or  (c)  of  this
 subdivision,  possessed prior to the date of enactment of the chapter of
 the laws of two thousand thirteen which added this paragraph;
   (g) provided, however, that such term does not include:
   (i) any rifle, shotgun or pistol that  (A)  is  manually  operated  by
 bolt,  pump,  lever  or  slide action; (B) has been rendered permanently
 inoperable; or (C) is  an  antique  firearm  as  defined  in  18  U.S.C.
 921(a)(16);
   (ii)  a  semiautomatic  rifle that cannot accept a detachable magazine
 that holds more than five rounds of ammunition;

Quoted:
Thank you for posting the NYS penal law. I will review it.

What about an 'other' with no brace? Seems like if you have a bare pistol buffer tube or something like a Thorsden cover/cheekrest (non-adjustable) you'd be good to go as long as you are over 26" and have a forward grip for two handed shooting.

Quoted:
Thank you for the information and advice!

Family is in semi-rural Southern Tier area, upstate.

Quoted:
3. Spur grip and Patrick Henry trigger guard instead of a pistol grip, or a Thordsen stock

Quoted:
The other option would be to build one with...

1. Non-threaded barrel, >=16"
2. Gas block with no bayo lug
3. Spur grip and Patrick Henry trigger guard instead of a pistol grip, or a Thordsen stock
4. Fixed stock, either an A2 style, or put a pin (or a screw, I suppose) in a telescopic one to prevent the adjustment lever from being operated

As far as magazines.  I like the Magpul Pmag links, that join two 10 round (or any size, really) mags by the baseplate.  Together, they're about the same size as a 30rd, and you can double your capacity with a mag flip.  There's also a version for 10rd steel and aluminum mags, but it's not as good.  I have both.

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What are these 10rnd pmag base plate links you speak of?