We had a great stay at Silwia's place. We did not get to meet her but everything was arranged perfectly. Room was nice and it is a good site from which to visite NYC. If you already have your rental car do note that you can not park everwhere all day. We got a fine because we did not pay attention enough to the restrictions. The public transport is good but you need to go by bus to get to the nearest PATH station or you could walk like we did :-) We definately reccommend it for a city trip.