I am going to be living in upstate New York near Canada - do I need to buy snow tires and can i put them on my?

you might need snow tires but i would,nt put them on now. you can go ahead and buy them now but don,t put them on or they will be worn out before winter. myself i don,t like chains. if you get good mud and snow tires with deep tread you should be able to go about anywhere except on ice. not too many will go on ice.