The fair place to meet is Chicago, IL — the city closest to the midpoint of Denver and New York. From the farther side that’s about 19 hr 15 min of driving.
Recommended midpoint
Chicago, IL
From Denver
19 hr 15 min
918 mi to Chicago
From New York
14 hr 55 min
711 mi to Chicago
New York has the shorter trip; the split is off by about 4 hr 20 min. The alternatives below can even it out. Denver and New York are about 1,627 miles apart.
Denver and New York are about 1,627 miles apart by road. Split the difference and you arrive near Chicago, the city closest to the halfway point between them. That puts roughly 19 hr 15 min of driving on the Denver side and 14 hr 55 min on the New York side — the fairest single meeting point among the cities near the middle.
Over this distance most people will fly rather than drive the whole way. Chicago still makes a fair, central place for Denver and New York to converge, splitting the travel instead of asking one side to cross the country.
If Chicago doesn't have what you're after, Indianapolis and Milwaukee are also close to the midpoint and worth a look — each keeps the drive reasonably balanced between Denver and New York.
Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the third-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 2.74 million at the 2020 census. Read more →
Denver is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Officially a consolidated city and county, it is located in the South Platte River valley on the western edge of the High Plains, and is just east of the Front Range of the Rocky… Read more →
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States. It is located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harbors. Read more →
City descriptions adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA); photos via Wikimedia Commons, credited above.
Estimates use straight-line distance and typical road speeds; real drive times vary with route and traffic.