I made a similar decision for college five years ago - although it wasn't local, I decided to go where I got a full ride over Barnard, which was my top school out of my acceptances. I loved my college experience and my art history department turned out to be amazing. Most of all, graduating not only debt free but with a lot of money that would have gone to tuition saved has been ideal-- it allowed me to afford to study abroad for a year and then move to the UK for a top MA program without debt. Where is your local school? NYC may have a lot more opportunities but it is also likely infinitely more competitive to get those opportunities. Sometimes being a big fish in a small pond is the best way to make yourself stand out (for example, I was top in my dept at my school; may not have been that way if I went to Barnard and then may not have gotten my MA acceptance).