Thankfully, I rarely have to operate in and out of JFK these days as that route is on a different fleet. However, every time I have operated in and out of JFK I still start a 'threat and error management briefing' with "third world* ATC, including Ground Control" and that it needs mitigating.
Fully agree with all the comments above that point out how absurd it is for pilots to have to go to another frequency immediately after landing in order to tell ATC what gate they're expecting to park on and whether that gate is occupied or not. I just wonder how many times that problem and the associated danger has been highlighted to the FAA or other authorities. No doubt when a major accident occurs, this will be one of the major holes that lined up as a causal factor.
* Apologies to third world ATC where I doubt it is ever quite that bad although accents can be troublesome at times.