Although you could fly into MacArthur, there are fewer flights and they are probably more expensive than using LaGuardia as your gateway. Cold Spring Harbor is on the north shore of Long Island. The nearest sizable community is Huntington, which is just a few minutes away and probably has a number of places where you could stay. The main road through Huntington, which runs north-south is Route 110, featuring strip mall after strip mall. Jericho Turnpike, which runs perpendicular and connects Huntington to Cold Spring Harbor is more pastoral and runs primarily through residential areas. FYI, Long Island is more than 100 miles long so unless you have a special interest in making the grand tour of the area when it gets warmer, you may not want to devote a lot of advance planning to your visit. IMHO, the most interesting part of the island is east of the Shinnecock Canal, which is where the Hamptons begin. Esthetically, the East End is quite different, primarily because it was settled by people coming down from Massachusetts. The areas west of the canal were settled by people coming out from New York and vicinity. So much for the historical background. I'll be glad to provide additional information if needed. Let me know.

Russell in CT (but formerly from Long Island()