(a) Evidence of the price and other terms upon any sale or the rent reserved and other terms upon any lease or tenancy relating to any of the property taken or to be taken or to any similar property in the vicinity when the sale or leasing occurred or the tenancy existed within a reasonable time of the trial shall be admissible on direct examination. At any stage of the proceeding, the court or tribunal may require such prior notice to be given of an intention to introduce evidence as to the sale, leasing or tenancy of property other than the property directly involved in the proceeding and of particulars relating thereto as it may deem necessary to prevent surprise.

(b) The deposition of any person, whether or not a party, may be taken pursuant to article twenty-nine of the civil practice act, the rules of civil practice and the provisions of this section. Such deposition may be taken upon any question or issue in the proceeding, including the facts as to any sale, lease or tenancy admissible in evidence pursuant to this subdivision five. The deposition may be taken at the instance of the authority or of any owner or at the direction of the court, at any time during the pendency of the action or proceeding. At least five days' notice, or if service is through the mails, at least eight days' notice, shall be given of the taking of the testimony, if on the part of an owner, to the authority and to all other owners who have appeared in the proceeding; if by the authority, to all owners who have appeared in the proceeding.

(c) Any time during the pendency of such action or proceedings, an authority or an owner may apply to the court for an order directing an owner or the authority, as the case may be, to show cause why further proceedings should not be expedited, and the court may upon such application make an order requiring that the hearings proceed and that any other steps be taken with all possible expedition.

(d) For the purposes of this article, the award of compensation shall not be increased by reason of any increase in the value of the property caused by the clearance, reconstruction or proposed clearance or reconstruction under this article of the property or of the area in which the property is situated. No allowance shall be made for improvements begun on property after notice to the owner of such property of the institution of the proceedings to condemn such property.

(e) Evidence shall be admissible bearing upon the unsanitary, unsafe or substandard condition of the premises, or the illegal use thereof, or the enhancement of rentals resulting from such illegal use, and such evidence may be considered in fixing the compensation to be paid, notwithstanding that no steps to remedy or abate such conditions have been taken by the department or officers having jurisdiction. If a violation order is on file against the premises in any such department, it shall constitute prima facie evidence of the existence of the condition specified in such order.

(f) If any of the property included within the project is devoted to a public use, it may nevertheless be acquired provided that no property belonging to the municipality or to any government may be acquired without its consent, and no property belonging to a public utility corporation may be acquired without the approval of the commission or other officer or tribunal having regulatory power over such corporation.

(g) The term "owner," as used in this section, shall include a person having an estate, interest or easement in the property to be acquired or a lien, charge or encumbrance thereon. * NB The text of Article 5 of the former State Housing Law (cited herein as the "Municipal Housing Authorities Law"), as such article existed immediately prior to its repeal pursuant to section 227 of Chapter 808 of the Laws of 1939, is provided here for ease of reference and historical purposes as such text continues to be applicable for the New York City Housing Authority pursuant to the provisions of section 401 of the current Public Housing Law.