We had a really comfortable stay at James' place. He was there to receive us when we reached the apartment and was just a call away at most times. He was quick to respond to our queries and helped us navigate the area. We faced some issues with wi-fi connectivity, but James helped us out by letting us use the wi-fi at his place (he lives next door!)
James has some paper cups/plates at the apartment, which really helped as we were in New York on a work visit and were constantly in and out of the apartment.

The bayside area is fairly self-sufficient with a clutch of good restaurants/pubs nearby. It's really well connected (just over 20 minutes) to NYC through the LIRR. The cabbies aren't familiar with the routes to Bayside, so it's best to use the trains in any case.

Ours was a work visit to New York and it went smoothly.