Well there's also PAX East in Boston if you have the time and money to spare plus a car.
Having worked at NYCC last year (first time attending too), I can tell you it's good, but it's just ridiculously packed and chaotic; particularly the Capcom booth because of UMVC3 and Street Fighter X Tekken. I have a ton of stories from working that weekend. The main thing that I can tell you is that it was a pain in the ass to make my through the show floor. If you don't want to pay (like me) then you could volunteer; it was a pretty good experience. Hopefully, this year's NYCC will be a lot more organized.
Oh and believe it or not guys, 4 day passes go on sale as of tomorrow at noon (I imagine eastern time) on the NYCC site.