Hi and Welcome! Nice to see another American on this site. Since you're in Long Island, I have two schools to recommend to you. One is AirEast at Republic Airport in Farmingdale, the other is Panorama Flight Service in White Plains. The former is, of course, a lot closer. My second suggestion to you is to join the AOPA. They have TONS of resources for new pilots. Start here:
http://www.aopa.org/learntofly/startfly/
PM me with any questions.