playing the odds game
It has been reported that the NTSB has conducted sim tests with pilots to see could they have made it back to LGA ,with a success rate of around 50%
And these pilots may probably have expected the failure or at least were aware that they were in a sim with no pressure as to the outcome. !
So , in my humble opinion, the crew here made the absolute best decision in short time with immense pressure. 50 % isnt good enough !