Just curious, but what makes you say that? It does look an awful lot like one to me. Cougars have been known to come right down into heavily populated areas of California and sit on people's garages while they wait to pick off dogs and cats. So I just wouldn't be surprised to see them in NY, too.
That, my friend, is a puma, aka a mountain lion The tail is blurred and somewhat behind the body, but the body proportions, color, and the poof and length of that tail all say puma to me. They aren't necessarily a huge cat, not when compared to something like an African lion. I think I can make...