US Route 1 goes through New York State, partially along the alignment of old NY 1. And comprehensive public transportation is pretty much limited to four of the five boroughs of the city; Westchester County has trains to get you into the city but getting around the county means you pretty much need a car. Rockland County has one train line. And then there's the whole rest of the state, which is rather large (for the east coast, anyway). And there's no shortage of cars in the city.