The state of New York has espoused the nickname "New York State" to lessen the confusion when trying to distinguish it from New York City. To further cut it up into more bite-size portions, the state is often regionalized into Upstate and Downstate.

Large trees loom over the New York metropolitan area, creating a graceful atmosphere of laid-back urbanity. The Queens Giant is the tallest tree and perhaps the oldest living thing in the New York metro area.

New York City is the heart and soul of the state's economy–the focal point of banking, finance and communication in the United States, home of principal moneymakers like the New York Stock Exchange which is right smack in the middle of Wall Street, Manhattan. Large corporations all over the world have set up headquarters and home offices in New York's strategically positioned cities like Manhattan or in Westchester County.

Manufacturing companies are engaged in large-scale printing, garment merchandising, railroad rolling stock, and bus line vehicles. The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that the total gross product in 2004 was a whopping $900 billion in the state alone – second only to California.

New York originally had a very lucrative oyster fishery, but this has been relegated into the backseat as oysters comprise only a small portion of the total seafood industry. The Fulton Fish Market in New York City – now in its current location at the Bronx – is famous for its New York fish and imported seafood from other parts of the globe.

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