Ripley is a town on Lake Erie in the westernmost part of Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 2,310 at the time of the 2020 census. The town was named after Eleazer Wheelock Ripley, a general in the War of 1812. There are no incorporated villages in the town, but there is one census-designated place: the hamlet of Ripley. The town is perhaps best known as being the western terminus of the New York State Thruway.

The New York State Thruway is a system of controlled-access toll roads spanning 569.83 miles (917.05 km) within the U.S. state of New York. It is operated by the New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA), a New York State public-benefit corporation. The 496.00-mile (798.23 km) mainline is a freeway that extends from the New York City line at Yonkers to the Pennsylvania state line at Ripley by way of I-87 and I-90 through Albany, Syracuse, and Buffalo. According to the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, the Thruway is the fifth-busiest toll road in the United States. The toll road is also a major route for long distance travelers linking the cities of Toronto and Buffalo with Boston and New York City.