I ______ to New York three times this year.

The correct answer is 'have been' because it indicates an action that started in the past and continues to the present, or has relevance to the present. 'Have been' is the present perfect tense, which is appropriate in this context. The other options are incorrect because they use different tenses that don't fit the context of the sentence. 'Was' and 'were' are past simple, and 'had been' is past perfect.