It's pretty easy to get to the venue from the tri state area. I don't think I would hold it outside the city.
I think the javits center is easy to travel to, even if you have to fly. Only issue is that the lodging here is pretty expensive, but the hotel deals were good if you got them early enough.
I found it fine to travel to the venue. Yeah it's in the middle of Manhattan, but if you can handle the traffic and congestion it's pretty central in terms of travel ease.