Your tax dollars at work! Portions of Ancestry.com pertaining to New York are free to NY state residents. The New York State Archives partnered with Ancestry to digitize some NY state records of interest to genealogists. The resulting databases are free if you live in New York State.
http://www.archives.nysed.gov/research/res_ancestry.shtml
Once you enter your zip code, you’ll be asked to register for a free account