Thanks again for the responses. I'm not seeing that statement you quoted in any of my New York state instructions. The opening statement in IT-196i says "Beginning with tax year 2018, you can choose to itemize your deductions for New York State income tax purposes whether or not you itemized your deductions on your federal income tax return." And then the specific instructions for the home mortgage deduction doesn't read as you quoted.
Can you pinpoint where in the NY tax instructions you are quoting from?
