There is an index for NYC deaths on the Internet, thanks to the hard work of the Italian Genealogical Group volunteers. The death index is complete for all boroughs of New York from 1898 to 1948. This database also includes earlier death indexes for the boroughs of Manhattan 1891-1897 and Brooklyn 1895-1897. You can access the above indexes at: www.italiangen.org/databaselist.stm.