New York State Route 97

New York State Route 97
NY 97 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by NYSDOT and the city of Port Jervis
Length	70.54 mi[1] (113.52 km)
Existed	1930[2]–present
Major junctions
South end	US 6 / US 209 in Port Jervis
Major intersections	NY 52 in Tusten
North end	Future I-86 / NY 17 in Hancock
Location
Country	United States
State	New York
Counties	Orange, Sullivan, Delaware
Highway system
New York Highways Interstate US State Reference Parkways
← NY 96B → NY 98

New York State Route 97 (NY 97) is a 70.53-mile-long (113.51 km) north–south scenic route in southern New York in the United States. It runs from U.S. Route 6 (US 6) and US 209 in Port Jervis to NY 17 (Future Interstate 86) in Hancock. Its most famous feature is the Hawk's Nest, a tightly winding section of the road along the Delaware River, located a few miles north of Port Jervis. NY 97 intersects NY 52 in Narrowsburg and indirectly connects to three Pennsylvania state highways due to its proximity to the state line.

The New York State Legislature created Route 3-a, an unsigned legislative route extending from Port Jervis to Hancock along the Delaware River, in 1911. Initially, it was a route in name only as the portion north of Port Jervis had yet to be built. Several parts of the route were constructed during the 1920s, and by the time the NY 97 designation was created as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, only two sections were still unconstructed. The entirety of the highway officially opened on August 30, 1939, capping a construction project that cost $4 million (equivalent to $87.6 million in 2024) to complete.

NY 97 began in the city of Port Jervis and ended in Callicoon when it was assigned in 1930. At that time, the remainder of modern NY 97 was part of NY 17B. During May 1939, the state proposed a new designation of New York State Route 17L (NY 17L) for the section between Hancock and Bradley's Corners (south of Middletown). After opposition by a local committee, NY 97 was extended north to Hancock in June 1939, overlapping NY 17B. The latter route was truncated to Callicoon in the 1960s. It is also shared with New York State Bicycle Route 17, except between NY 17 and NY 268.^[3][4]