New sonnet about New York poet (8)
I believe the answer is:
tennyson
'poet' is the definition.
(Alfred, Lord Tennyson)
'new sonnet about new york' is the wordplay.
'new' is an anagram indicator.
'about' indicates putting letters inside.
'new york' becomes 'ny'.
'sonnet' is an anagram of 'tenson'.
'tenson' enclosing 'ny' is 'TENNYSON'.
(Other definitions for tennyson that I've seen before include "Alfred Lord . . . . . . . . great English poet" , "Great Victorian" , "writer" , "linesman" , "Poet Laureate from 1850 to 1892" .)