People from the state of New York who have achieved fame or note include:
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, (born 1947), NBA player
- Woody Allen, (born 1935), actor, director and writer
- Louis Armstrong, (1901-1971), jazz musician
- Count Basie, (1904-1984), jazz musician
- Humphrey Bogart, (1899-1957), actor
- James Cagney, (1899-1986), actor
- Maria Callas, (1923-1977), opera singer
- John Coltrane, (1926-1967), jazz musician
- Sean Combs, music producer, performer
- Aaron Copland, (1900-1990), composer
- Claire Danes, (born 1979), actor
- Sammy Davis, Jr, actor, singer
- Robert De Niro, (born 1943), actor
- Melvil Dewey, (1851-1931), originator of the Dewey Decimal System
- Ella Fitzgerald, (1918-1996), singer
- Henry Louis Gehrig, MLB player
- George Gershwin, (1898-1937), composer
- Rudolph Giuliani, (born 1944), former mayor
- Jackie Gleason, actor
- Billie Holiday, (1915-1959), singer
- Harry Houdini, (1874-1926), magician
- Henry James, (1843-1916), author
- John Jay, (1745-1829), first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
- Sandy Koufax, (born 1935), MLB player
- Jennifer Lopez, (born 1970), music performer
- Norman Mailer, (born 1923), author
- Chico, Groucho, Harpo, Zeppo Marx, comedians
- Herman Melville, (1819-1891), writer
- Ethel Merman, (1908-1984), actor
- Notorious BIG, rapper
- Eugene O'Neill, (1888-1953), playwrite
- Christopher Reeve, (born 1952), actor
- Mickey Rooney, (born 1920), actor
- Franklin D. Roosevelt, former US President
- Jonas Salk, (1914-1995), scientist
- Martin Scorsese, (born 1942), director
- Jerry Seinfeld, (born 1954), comedian
- Barbara Stanwyck, (1907-1990), actor
- Barbra Streisand, (born 1942), singer, actor
- Sting, musician (The Police)
- Louis Comfort Tiffany, (1848-1933), artist
- Donald Trump[?]
- Mae West, (1893-1980), actor
- Edith Wharton, (1862-1937), author