Can you get unemployment with a part time job in NY?

Yes, you can absolutely file for partial unemployment benefits in New York! When your hours are reduced significantly like yours, you may qualify for partial UI benefits. The NYS Department of Labor has provisions for exactly this situation. You'll need to report your weekly earnings when you file your weekly claim, and they'll calculate a partial benefit amount. Definitely file a claim as soon as possible since there's a waiting week.

yeah i did this last year when my restaurant cut me to 2 days a week. you still gotta do the job search stuff though which is annoying when youre already working

The job search requirement still applies for partial unemployment claims. You need to make at least 3 job contacts per week and keep your job search log updated. However, since you're already employed part-time, the NYS Department of Labor may accept applications to increase hours at your current job as one of your job contacts. Make sure to document everything properly in case they audit your job search activities.

I had a nightmare trying to get through to NYS Department of Labor when I was in a similar situation. Spent weeks calling and either getting busy signals or waiting on hold for hours just to get disconnected. Finally used a service called Claimyr that actually got me connected to an agent the same day. They have this video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Really saved my sanity - check out claimyr.com if you run into the same phone issues I did.

The whole system is so confusing! I thought you couldn't get unemployment if you were working at all. This is actually helpful to know because my hours got cut too but I was afraid to even try filing.

Just make sure you report your earnings EXACTLY right on your weekly claim or they'll hit you with an overpayment later. I learned that the hard way when I forgot to include some tips one week.