Legal Name Change As An Immigrant

I (20f) am a permanent resident in the state of new york state in the upstate are, immigrated from my middle eastern home country a bit less than 2 years ago. My legal name is very similar to another English word that is rather offensive and since I’ve been fluent in english since i was younger i have honestly never liked it. Ive been going by another name with friends since i was 15. I was wondering how i could change it legally in nys, does it cost a lot of money? I tried to look it up but am struggling with the sheer amount of info. Online it says it costs 60-210 dollars which i would be okay with, but my friend had to spend over 3k hiring a lawyer. She also got a sex change so that might be why, but I’m confused. Im not the best with paperwork but i really want this. Any help would be greatly appreciated, explaining like I’m five would also really help.