Last february, I got married to a man in NYC. We have never lived
together and we want to get divorced. I know that we can file a
separation agreement and wait a year from that date and file a
no-fault divorce, but is there a way to get divorced sooner than that?
I was told by a lawyer that I can file an uncontested divorce based on
abandonment (as I said before, we have never lived together and he has
been living in Canada since we legally got married.) Is this really
true? Are there any other options for me to get this done with as soon
as possible, without paying high lawyer fees? There are no children
and no joint property or money involved.

As always, I'll point out that Google Answers does not provide legal
advice so this comment should not replace the advice of a lawyer. 
However, here are some leads for questions to consider.

Under New York Domestic Relations Law, Section 170(2) (you can find a
link here http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menugetf.cgi?COMMONQUERY=LAWS)
an action for divorce may be maintained by a husband or wife to
procure a judgment divorcing  the  parties  and dissolving the
marriage on any of the following grounds: . . .(2) The abandonment of
the plaintiff by the defendant for a period  of one or more years. . .
Note that the period has to be for at least a year so even if you
determine that you can pursue divorce on the grounds of abandonment,
you'd have to wait until February.

In addition to the year period, there are other elements that you
should confirm with your lawyer to make sure you qualify (see
http://www.brandeslaw.com/grounds_for_divorce/grounds.htm).  According
to this site, the abandonment must be continuous, unjustified and
without your consent.  For instance has you husband come back at any
point during the year, are you the one who left, did you kick him out,
did you do anything that could justify his leaving, did you consent to
his leaving?  If any of these are true, you could have a problem
pursuing an action on the grounds of abandonment.

A bigger issue may be that you never lived together at all.  You may
not be able to pursue divorce on the ground of abandonment if you
never lived together after the date of marriage.  I would clarify this
fact with your lawyer and make sure your lawyer confirms that the
grounds of abandonment are available to you under these circumstances.

The divorce will only be uncontested if your husband does not respond
to the papers filed on him.

It sounds kind of complicated to start with the whole abandonment
argument, because i am not sure how i would go about proving it. It
sounds like separation for a year is simpler, but does that mean that
we must file an official separation agreement and only then we wait a
year? Also, are there ways to do this without a lawyer and cheaper...
like online or file myself?