PILOT IN A PA-32 IFR REQUESTED A HIGHER ALT BECAUSEBECAUSE OF ICING BUILD UP WAS ADVISED BY TWO NY APCH CTLRS THAT THERE WAS NOTHING THEY COULD DO.

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WE WERE LEVEL AT OUR ASSIGNED ALT OF 7000 FT AND ABOUT TO ENTER THE CLOUDS. WE KNEW WE COULD EXPECT TO PICK UP SOME ICE FROM EXPERIENCE IN THE CLOUDS AT THIS ALT ABOUT 10 MINS EARLIER. THE ACCUMULATION HAD BEEN MORE THAN TRACE; BUT NOT VERY SIGNIFICANT. THE PITOT HEAT WAS ON AND APPEARED TO WORK JUST FINE (THE POSITION OF THE TUBE UNDER THE WING MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE TO VISUALLY VERIFY IT DOES NOT HAVE ICE ON IT). OF NOTE WAS THAT; WHEN OUTSIDE THE CLOUDS; THE ICE SUBLIMATED FROM THE FLT SURFACES; BUT DID NOT COMPLETELY SUBLIMATE FROM THE TEMP PROBE. WHEN WE ENTERED THE CLOUDS IT WAS MORE OF THE SAME. IT WAS A THIN BROKEN LAYER WITH TOPS AROUND 6800 FT; OCCASIONALLY 7500 FT; SO WE EXPECTED THE EXPOSURE TO BE BRIEF. BUT; OUR EXPOSURE WAS LONGER THAN ANTICIPATED AND THE ICE WAS ACCUMULATING AT QUICKER RATE THAN OUR PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE. THE ICE WAS A MIXTURE OF CLEAR AND RIME; A BEAD WAS FORMING ALL ALONG THE LEADING EDGE OF THE WINGS; 'HORNS' WERE GROWING ON THE FUEL CAP HANDLES; AND THE WINDSHIELD WAS COATING WITH CLEAR ICE; SPOTTED WITH RIME. WHEN WE WERE IN THE CLOUDS LONGER THAN EXPECTED; WE INFORMED NY APCH THAT WE WERE PICKING UP ICE AND NEEDED HIGHER. THE CTLR TOLD US THERE WAS NOTHING HE COULD DO FOR US SINCE THE AIRSPACE OVER US WAS NOT HIS. HE SAID HE WOULD BE HANDING US OFF SHORTLY TO A CTLR WHO WOULD BE ABLE TO HELP. WHEN WE WERE HANDED OFF; WE IMMEDIATELY MADE OUR REQUEST. TO OUR SURPRISE; WE GO THE SAME ANSWER; 'THERE'S NOTHING I CAN DO FOR YOU; IT'S NOT MY AIRSPACE. ASK THE NEXT CTLR; HE CAN HELP.' THEN THE ALTIMETER JUMPED DOWN FROM A STEADY 7000 TO 6400 FT. WE IMMEDIATELY INFORMED ATC THAT WE WERE HAVING EQUIP PROBLEMS DUE TO THE ICE. UNTIL THAT POINT; EVERYTHING APPEARED NORMAL; EXCEPT THE LONGER THAN EXPECTED TIME IN CLOUDS. I THOUGHT I NOTICED A CHANGE IN AIRSPEED; BUT A XCHK WITH OUR GND SPEED SHOWED NO CHANGE. THERE WAS SOME ADDITIONAL ERRATIC MOVEMENT OF THE ALTIMETER AND VSI; SO WE WENT TO ALTERNATE STATIC SOURCE AIR AND GOT STEADY READINGS. WE THEN BEGAN A CLIMB BACK TO 7000 THAT EVENTUALLY CLEARED US FROM THE CLOUDS. WE CONFIRMED WITH ATC THAT THE PROBLEM WAS NOT WITH THE ALTIMETER DISPLAY; ITSELF; BY REQUESTING AN ALTITUDE CHK. AS MENTIONED; WE EVENTUALLY DID BREAK OUT OF THE CLOUDS DURING OUR CLIMB BACK TO 7000 FT. BY THE TIME THE CTLR HANDED US OFF; THE ICE HAD SUBLIMATED ENOUGH FROM THE OUTSIDE STATIC PORT THAT WE WERE ABLE TO RETURN IT. THE NEXT (THIRD) CTLR - WHO WAS OBVIOUSLY APPRISED OF THE SIT - ASKED US IF WE NEEDED HIGHER AND WHETHER WE WERE STILL EXPERIENCING EQUIP PROBLEMS. THE ANSWER FOR BOTH WAS NEGATIVE. WE WERE FLING ON V16. WITH AN MEA OF 2500 FT AND ONLY A THIN LAYER BETWEEN 6000 AND 7000FT; THERE WERE PLENTY OF OPTIONS. JUST BEFORE WE BROKE OUT OF THE CLOUDS; I WAS ABOUT TO ASK THE CTLR TO PICK UP HIS PHONE AND REQUEST HIGHER FOR US FROM WHOMEVER'S AIRSPACE IT WAS. THE NEXT OPTION WOULD HAVE BEEN TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. I BELIEVE ATC SHOULD HAVE OFFERED TO MAKE THE PHONE CALL AS SOON AS IT WAS CLEAR THAT WE HAD PROBLEMS. THE FACT THAT THE FIRST CTLR WAS WRONG WHEN HE TOLD US THAT THE NEXT CTLR WOULD BE ABLE TO HELP US; AND THAT THE SECOND CTLR DID NOT SEEM PARTICULARLY CONCERNED THAT OUR ALT HAD GONE INSTANTANEOUSLY FROM 7000 TO 6400 FT LEFT US SCRATCHING OUR HEADS. FOR OUR PART; I BELEVE WE DID VERY WELL IN REACTING TO THE SIT. OUR ASSUMPTION THAT WE WOULD NOT BE IN THE CLOUDS VERY LONG WAS BASED ON WHAT WE COULD SEE; I.E.; THE TOPS WERE MOSTLY AROUND 6800 FT WITH AN OCCASIONAL 500FT. IN THE FUTURE I WILL BE MORE SKEPTICAL WHEN THE ALTIMETER AND VSI INDICATE A VERY GOOD JOB OF FLYING LEVEL. THERE PROBABLY WAS SOME INDICATION OF A PROBLEM IN THE MOVEMENT OF THESE INSTRUMENTS; OR LACK THEREOF. THAT WE MAY HAVE BEGUN A GRADUAL UNNOTICED DESCENT (UNNOTICED BECAUSE THE STATIC PORT WAS CLOGGED) RIGHT INTO THE THICK OF THE OVERCAST; WHICH WOULD INCREASE OUR CLOUD EXPOSURE; WAS NOT CONSIDERED. HOWEVER; I WAS ALWAYS CONFIDENT THAT WE HAD TWO SOLID 'OUTS': (1) WE COULD CLIMB ABOVE THE OVERCAST; OR (2) WE COULD DESCEND BELOW IT. TO AVOID EVEN THE POTENTIAL FOR ICE; WE COULD HAVE REQUESTED HIGHER SOONER; AND PRESSED THE ISSUE WITH THE CTLR IF WE WERE DENIED. POST SCRIPT: IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT WE WERE CLEAR OF THE CLOUDS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE TRIP TO BOSTON. THIS MEANS WE WERE FLYING WITH THE SUN SHINING ON US FROM ABOUT 45 DEGS OF OUR NOSE FOR AT LEAST 45 MINUTES. WHILE WE WERE TAXIING AT BOSTON; A CHUNK OF ICE FLEW UP FROM THE COWLING AREA; FOLLOWED BY A STREAM OF WATER. IT SURPRISED ME THAT IT HAD BEEN ABLE TO ENDURE TO THAT POINT; SIMILAR TO THE ICE ON THE TEMPERATURE PROBE THAT HAD NOT SUBLIMATED EARLIER.