Your ancestor may not have arrived at the US port that you think they did. Not everyone came through New York. Your ancestor’s original destination may not be where he settled and that destination may have impacted where he originally landed. Some immigrants to the United States originally settled in Canada and their “port of entry” into the United States may have been a land-locked one. Just because Grandma insists her Grandpa landed in New York City when he arrived as a young boy does not mean that he did.
If he arrived at that age, his granddaughter was not there to witness it.
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Most of my Southern IL relatives came mid to late 1800’s. From the few records I found, and oral history of the German Lutherans immigration seemed to indicate a trend of New Orleans arrivals for Southern IL. I still haven’t found a record, but read an interesting account in a book about St Louis where my 2nd Great Uncle was profiled. It mentioned his father arrived in New York but couldn’t find work. He had heard of good farm land in Washington County, IL and set off by foot arriving sometime in 1847.
So didn’t arrive where I expected and didn’t end up where he originally planned.