I'm in Puerto Rico and almost all of shops that take card take chip. I feel like you may have been frequenting some odd places if you were having a hard time finding chip in NYC :P
What does Puerto Rico have to do with chip in NYC ? Americans have one of the most antiquated banking systems in the world.
NYC is by all accounts ahead technologically of PR. PR has had this technology for awhile. Its been a long time since I've been anywhere in the US that didn't accept chip.
Puerto Rico is a part of America, just not a state; Puerto Ricans are American citizens.
Of course but how is that relevant? Lots of places in the US don’t have chip and pin. Just because PR does means little about NYC.