As an added bonus of staying near JFK there is a casino just a short cab ride away at Aqueduct race track, food, entertainment and horse racing (certain times of the year). It's virtually across the street and guessing a $10 cab fare at best each way. JFK is never shut down for very long for snow, it's surrounded by temperate water and an aggressive snow removal program, after 50 years of flying out of there I've never had a weather related major problem although traffic problems pretty much all the time.