You're on a tight budget so you are going to a regional 3000 miles from home? My team should be on so tight a budget.
Long Island is nice but accomidations are likely to be problematic. NYC is likely to have lots of hotel space but be expensive. Of course it is still the greatest city in the world so it's worth visiting.
A better bet to save money and hit a great east coast regional is UTC in CT. Of course the happening teams are going to be in Manchester NH.
Not sure how hotels will be there as we will be staying in our own beds for that one.