Let the top of the ground dry before watering again.
I use fertilizer about once a month.
You will need to bring it inside for winter in NY. It will need a lot of light.

Bay laurel grows very slowly for the first couple of years. Don't worry, it sounds like a healthy plant.

As nygardener said, bay laurel grows slowly at first. Mine took three years, before it kicked into gear. Now, I have to prune it heavily to keep it to the size I want (don't want to go up another pot size). It is still outside, and we have had quite a few nights with temps down to around 25F/-4C. Doesn't seem to affect it, and it helps to reduce 'critter load.' The tree will probably come inside this weekend or next.

My bay laurel is about 5 years old and over 5' tall, in a 3 gallon pot. I neglect it horribly. It's outside until the temps go below 40 then I take it in. It doesn't get great light, I rarely remember to water it and have never fertilized it. It grows fine. It just looks kind of pathetic because I've told my neighbors to pick as much as they want whenever they want it. There's a lot of Italian food being made around here. lol

Bay can actually take quite cold temps. 40 would not bother it at all. It grows outdoors in the open ground in much of the UK and frequently survives below freezing temps, though not for long periods. I am currently looking at my neighbour's 20 foot x 20 foot bay thicket which has been through at least 40 winters. In a pot is would be more vulnerable but it is not as tender as some people think. As with rosemary the longer it can stay outside the healthier it will be and the better the chance of getting it through the winter. These are not tropical plants and they don't like over watering or excess heat.

Does anyone know where I can buy a bay laurel topiary, say 4-5'? It seems if I lived in the UK