A great place to buy bitcoin is
localbitcoins.com. It's really a kind of marketplace where you can find sellers/buyers near you. Id recommend meeting up with them in person, to be extra safe. That's for I bought a few bitcoin. You really have to look out for scammers on the internet though, or use a reputed trader.
After the BitLicense thing, I think it's hard to use localbitcoins in NY as well. Try Gemini. Try local ATMs, Bitcoin ATMs of course. There should be many in NYC. Or try setting up an add in Currency exchange thread and see if anyone can help you.