No action for divorce or separation may be maintained on a ground which arose more than five years before the date of the commencement of that action for divorce or separation except where: (a) In an action for divorce, the grounds therefor are one of those specified in subdivision (2), (4), (5) or (6) of section one hundred seventy of this chapter, or (b) In an action for separation, the grounds therefor are one of those specified in subdivision 2 or 4 of section two hundred of this chapter.
New York Legal Code