The DEC does have records of mountain lion sightings and reports - They are just a little hard to find. There is an entire file devoted to mountain lions in NY.

The DEC wont deny there being Mt Lions in the state - The simply wont say that there is either.

The last Mt Lion on record in the state was take for bounty in the late 1800's -

That does not mean that there are none left - There have been confirmed sightings and even confirmed mountain lion kills in the state. There is a website link in one of the earlier post that has some good info.

There has been talk for years by the DEC about the POSSIBILITY of reintroducing the species to the Adirondaks - but as far as I know it is still just a possibility.

There is belived to be a number of free roaming Mt. Lions in NY all over the state but, the majority of them are belived to have been released by individuals who did not know what they were getting into when the took one in for a pet.

A Mt. Lion is a very deadly animal if not respected but, for they would rather be unseen and unbothered. It is just their nature. If given enough space lions in NY would not be a big deal the problem lies in people that would not be happy leaving well enough alone and they would go looking for these animals and would end up getting injured or worse then the animals would be labled man eaters and would most likely be killed on sight in spite of the hefty fine that would go along with it.