More helpful this time.
Crash pad living seems to be the only way if you are going to spend time in the city/Queens area.
My info is dated but two famous pads are the Kostas pad and the Jason pad.
Kostas is an American Airlines pilot who owns a 3-story walkup apartment. The set-up is 3rd floor are relatives of Kostas, the 2nd floor is a crash pad with about 23 guys sharing a 3 bedroom - 10 beds in two rooms are "dedicated" or owned beds and 7 beds in one room is the "hot" bed room. You pay more for a dedicated bunk. Everybody in the pad was pretty professional and coutrteous although there are some pretty loud snores out of some of the guys. The first floor is Kostas and the basement is another crashpad with what are about 16 guys in it (almost the same arrangement as the 2nd floor). Every crew room has Kostas # and the rent is like $155hot bed and 175cold.
Jason is/was a Delta ramper and ran a pad out of a house on 94th - just a two block walk from the main terminal. It would be great except for Jason himself who probably needs deep psych counseling. There were 8 pilots on the first floor and 8 F/A's in the basement. Two bunks in each bedroom and everybody had dedicated beds although Jason did run this $10/night futon thing which could be irritating or a blessing depending on if you were a resident or a poor FO hard up for a nights sleep.
Those are the famous pads in the area - each airline seems to have at least one entrepeneur who would create an airline only pad - since ACA is gone, I doubt any of our old deals are still around.
Then there's Kew Gardens - the airline mixing bowl. A little wild and crazy - definitely for the young at heart. There's a Kew Gardens taxi, a Kew Gardens apartment matching service and when you get there you will quickly find out about the "hot" spots. Since the Kew neighborhood is about equal distance between LGA and JFK, you will find whatever you want eventually. If you are interested in F/A's, though, you can meet quite a few in the Kew area. The Irish bar, come on guys, I forget the name is a pretty famous watering hole and meeting grounds. One of our pilots had a reputation for hanging around the bar, looking for prey and never paid for a single night's lodging in NY (although I don't think he got much sleep either).
For a more sedate life, you might find a local who owns a house further out on the island. A lot of people buy stuff out the Sunrise Highway past JFK (Valley Stream, Lynbrook, etc.). you might be able to find something in your price range that gets you a room with a bed. But you are going to fight some colossal traffic jams on your way back to LGA.
The good news is that NY is just fun. I find the people in Queens and Brooklyn to be friendly and helpful. Walked all over the place around LGA without fear. The old World's Fair grounds next to Shea and the Arthur Ashe center is a great green space for walks and runs. You can be downtown in Manhattan in about 30 minutes using the subway. Your not living in cold clean suburbia but NY is alive and energetic. Enjoy it - its not that bad.
Oh good cheap eats - walk over the bridge from the US Airways terminal to the "Roach Coach" in front of the Wyndham hotel. Don't laugh, the guy in this mobile restaurant has been there forever and he serves great food at cheap prices. He opens at like 5:30 in the morning and is there till 5:00/6:00 at night. Get a Ham and egg sandwich in the morning - I swear you'll never eat an egg mcmuffin again! He makes a steak sandwich that would choke a horse. If you don't believe, just walk over there and watch the lines of people that queue up for this place - all those cops and cab drivers must know something!
