What are the laws and procedures for incorporating a 501(c)3 in the state of NY

Friends of the Library... we did get a Consent to File from the Board of Education this spring... since the list of their incorporations is not on the web, I couldn't check... and wouldn't have anyway since I just found out that we were incorporated in 1988 under the Board of Regents. The name is not listed in the Department of State list of corporations... so I incorporated 'The Friends of...' again. We're now filing for 501(c)3, don't know which corporation date to use