One important fact should not be forgotten: New York, both City and State, had been notoriously Loyalist--that is, pro-British--ever since the troubles between the Colonists and the British grew angry.

Governor Tryon, the Governor of the State, made no secret of his British preferences; indeed, they were not preferences at all, but downright British acts.
Having won the Battle of Long Island, Lord Howe thought the time favorable for acting in his capacity as a peacemaker, because he had come over with authority to negotiate a peaceful settlement of the Colonists' quarrel.

He appealed, therefore, to the Congress of Philadelphia, which appointed a committee of three--Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Edward Rutledge to confer with Lord Howe.

The conference, which exhibited the shrewd quality of John Adams and of Franklin, the politeness of Rutledge, and the studied urbanity of Lord Howe, simply showed that there was no common ground on which they could come to an agreement.

The American Commissioners returned to Philadelphia and Lord Howe to New York City and there were no further attempts at peacemaking.
Having brought his men to New York, Washington may well have debated what to do next.