To pursue its goal, the fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in municipal bonds that provide income exempt from federal, New York state and New York city personal income taxes. These municipal bonds include those issued by New York state and New York city as well as those issued by territories and possessions of the United States and the District of Columbia and their political subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities, or multistate agencies and authorities.

The fund's investments in municipal and taxable bonds must be rated investment grade (i.e., Baa/BBB or higher) at the time of purchase or, if unrated, deemed of comparable quality by BNY Mellon Investment Adviser, Inc. (BNYM Investment Adviser). Generally, the fund's average effective portfolio maturity will be between three and ten years. The fund may invest in individual municipal and taxable bonds of any maturity or duration. A bond's maturity is the length of time until the principal must be fully repaid with interest. Average effective portfolio maturity is an average of the maturities of bonds held by the fund directly and the bonds underlying derivative instruments entered into by the fund, if any, adjusted to reflect provisions or market conditions that may cause a bond's principal to be repaid earlier than at its stated maturity. Duration is an indication of an investment's "interest rate risk," or how sensitive a bond or the fund's portfolio may be to changes in interest rates.

The fund typically sells a security when the fund's portfolio managers believe that there has been a negative change in the credit quality of the issuer or have identified a more attractive opportunity or when the portfolio managers seek to manage the fund's duration or tax position or to provide liquidity to meet shareholder redemptions.