I don't want no stinkin' airbag, my body, my choice!

On the center of the steering wheel.

You will drive very very safely.

Even antiques and classics? How would one even be retrofitted in a Ford Model T or a 1957 Chevrolet?

1998 was when airbags started being mandated in new cars across the board.

Private party sales are not covered by the law, and private party sales are how such collector cars tend to be sold.

I found a dozen with a quick internet search

So they are now forbidden to sell vintage cars to NY residents ?

Pretty certain someone buying a 60 year old car clearly recognizes it won't have an airbag.

And it appears any year car without functional airbags can still be sold so long as notice of the issue is given. In that sense, the headline of the article in the OP is a bit misleading. It is not illegal for a dealer to sell a car with nonfunctional airbags, so long as proper notice is given to the buyer that there are no functional airbags in the vehicle. The text of the law can be found at this link:

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/s1631

The attached link and headline were very sketchy

The airbag status is always shown on the instrument cluster display. Any driver can see if it is functional at anytime by just looking. Not clear on what this law adds beyond that.

Does NY still have annual inspections ? Is that something that needs to be verified before allowing the inspection to pass and the vehicle to be registered ?

The actual text of the law refers specifically to automotive auctioneers. Is that is a intentional distinction vs. used car dealers?

The law was pushed by the family of 18-year-old Anthony Amoros, who bought a used car and were never told it had no functioning airbags. He subsequently died in a crash in the car, a crash he apparently would have survived if there had been working airbags. They would not have bought the car if they had known it had no working airbags. Obviously this law is aimed at protecting vulnerable buyers who are just trying to buy reliable safe transportation, not classic car collectors.

I'm a big fan of 1965-1968 Mustangs, which obviously don't have airbags. I live in California, where there are lots of rust free classics to buy.

How can you not know there is an issue?

I feel for the family of the deceased, but I don't understand how they say they didn't know, when the airbag fault light would have been iilluminated right in front of the driver as soon as the car was started