housing

wow I mistakenly read "roadtrip" as "roadtest" and I agree with what you wrote here. I've read articles about Chinese travelers driving Route 66 and they didn't got to Texas because foreign DLs are not accepted in Texas.

In NY state you need to provide either SSN or 6 credit points (the doc that prove you are going to stay in the US for quite a long time and thus you need a driver's license) + a letter from SSA stating that you are not eligible for SSN. Then you can take the written test and get a permit. For road test, you need to take classes in order to get a certificate/receipt, use the serial number on the receipt to schedule road test.

I think you can get another OPT for your graduate degree; there's no relation between your undergrad OPT and your graduate OPT. So just use the STEM extension.