New York State Route 481 (NY 481) is a state highway in Central New York in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at an interchange with Interstate 81 (I-81) in North Syracuse, where the highway continues southeastward as I-481. Its northern terminus is located at an intersection with NY 104 in Oswego about two blocks from Lake Ontario. In between, NY 481 serves the communities of Clay, Phoenix and Fulton along the Oswego River. NY 481 is one of two state routes in the Syracuse area that serves as an extension of an Interstate Highway; the other is NY 690.

Interstate 81 (I-81) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from I-40 at Dandridge, Tennessee, to the Thousand Islands Bridge at Wellesley Island in New York, beyond which the short 2.7-mile (4.3 km) Ontario Highway 137 (Highway 137) links it to Highway 401. In the US state of New York, I-81 extends 183.60 miles (295.48 km) from the Pennsylvania state line southeast of Binghamton to the Canadian border at Wellesley Island northwest of Alexandria Bay. The freeway runs north–south through Central New York, serving the cities of Binghamton, Syracuse, and Watertown. It passes through the Thousand Islands in its final miles and crosses two bridges, both part of the series of bridges known as the Thousand Islands Bridge.