I have flown enough to talk..JFK IS A 3 world airport with 3rd world ATC
I call BS on that.
I've been operating into JFK in various aircraft from jurassic jets to the marvels of the A380. Either you can fly or you can't.
If you fly the FAA approved approaches, flight paths and minima specified on the approach plate then you'll never any problems. If you try to "re-invent" the wheel by trying to let the automation do all the work with charts made by nervous neophyte office types then you WILL run into problems.
Remember folks, this is an approach that sets you up on a right base to turn final, if you can't do that then please make the sky safer and turn in your license.
New York and Boston ATC (and USA ATC as whole ) is, in my opinion the best anywhere, including Australia and England. They are a breeze to deal with during severe weather (SWAP) and are more accommodating than other "first world" countries and yes, they expect you to understand basic English.