I'm going to be visiting within about an hour or two of NYC and Philadelphia (and with friends in Boston, so easy to get/stay there) for three weeks from mid December through the first week of January, and would like to use some of that time to either get a job or make contacts for possible future job opportunities. I have an academic science background but am transitioning out of academics, and have some programming experience (self-taught, my own projects + some remote contracting work, Python).

Due to the way my travel plans shook out, I have too much free time during this period and want to make the most of it. So, given this region, any specific suggestions for what I might do to take advantage of this time effectively in terms of job hunting or making contacts?