We do not approve of agents who charge high reading fees. Some agents cloak this under the guise of doing a critique, but our experience has been that most of these critiques are not worth the high charge. We are comfortable with this policy. An agent in Fairbanks, Alaska has offered to represent me. In this high tech communications age you can be a good agent in Iceland if you do the right things.
Most agents communicate with editors by telephone, fax, and e-mail.
It isn't so important to be located in New York any more. However, you do want to ask your prospective agent how often they go to New York. If they go to New York several times a year, they can keep in touch with editors easily during the times they aren't in the city. Note that is not for 6 months that is per year. If you don't have a contract with an agent, that agent is not obligated to do anything for you.