I’ve heard this come up as a point of confusion often recently…
New York State has restrictions on the access to vital records. (NY City has its own records system.) A lineage society requires that vital records be provided for the applicant, their parents, and their grandparents. The parents are deceased. The applicant is told that they need a court order to get records.
It’s not true. The State of New York has a policy that allows for time period waivers of genealogical copies of vital records for direct descendants. The application has to be made by the direct descendant. (If you’re hiring a professional genealogist, they cannot do it for you.) The applicant will need to document their relationship to the subject of the record. If requesting a birth or a marriage certificate, the applicant has to document the decease of the subject(s) of the birth or marriage record (for marriage, both spouses). That may mean submitting your birth certificate, your parent’s birth certificate, and your grandparents’ death certificates to get your grandparents’ marriage record.
Make any request to the office of the clerk (or vital records office) where the event occurred. The state has an extremely long fulfillment time. It’s best to call first to ask for instructions, as some offices aren’t familiar with this policy. If there is any confusion, refer the clerk’s office to the page referenced above.