The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society recently announced the availability of a New York Biographical Index.
This database contains 580,000 names from thousands of sources. Many of the sources in the database have not been previously indexed. Titles come from county, city and town histories and histories of religious, fraternal, political and education organizations. Also included are trade journals.
The original index was created by Gunther Pohl who was the head of the Local History and Genealogy Division of the New York Public Library from 1982-1992. He spent over 50 years compiling the information.
You do not need to be a member of the New York G & B to use this index.
To get started searching, go to: https://www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org/online-records/collection/new-york-biographical-index