A friend of mine left me over $100,000 from his $730,000 estate. Do I have to pay NY State an inheritance tax? If so, isn't it taken out of the entire estate before distribution to the beneficiaries?

NY State does not have an inheritance tax, nor an estate tax, so no worries there. This estate is too small to have any federal estate taxes due either. But if estate taxes were owed, the executor of the estate would have been responsible for paying the taxes out of the estate's assets before he distributed them to the heirs.

When does the nys inheritance taxbecome effective

There is no federal tax on inheritances. Also NY state does not tax inheritances.

Estate tax is paid by the executer of the estate, and it kicks in only if estate is over 2 million.