The fair place to meet is Columbus, OH — the city closest to the midpoint of Memphis and New York. From the farther side that’s about 10 hr 41 min of driving.
Recommended midpoint
Columbus, OH
From Memphis
10 hr 41 min
509 mi to Columbus
From New York
9 hr 59 min
476 mi to Columbus
New York has the shorter trip; the split is off by about 42 min. The alternatives below can even it out. Memphis and New York are about 953 miles apart.
Memphis and New York are about 953 miles apart by road. Split the difference and you arrive near Columbus, the city closest to the halfway point between them. That puts roughly 10 hr 41 min of driving on the Memphis side and 9 hr 59 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. Columbus still makes a fair, central place for Memphis and New York to converge, splitting the travel instead of asking one side to cross the country.
If Columbus doesn't have what you're after, Cincinnati and Charlotte are also close to the midpoint and worth a look — each keeps the drive reasonably balanced between Memphis and New York.
Columbus is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a population of 905,748 at the 2020 census, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., second-most populous city in the Midwest, and third-most populous U.S. state capital. Read more →
Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. 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.