What should be my line of questioning so that I may find a great attorney in my consultations in NYC.

I guess it all depends on what kind of case you have.

Word of mouth is good. If you have some extra time you might want to go to the court house and watch the attorneys. Here in Virginia, I'm guessing other places too, civil court is open and anyone can go and sit, Friday is the best, it has the 15 to30 minute cases. It's a great time to see how they argue and even how the Judges react to them. Just see how they work and if you like one or two get their business card in the hall and call and set up an appt.

As for what to ask, Like J_9 said it depends on the case you have, just outline what's going on briefly and ask how they would proceed and what they think.

I am going though the same thing... divorcing my husband.
I have determined that I will look for an attorney that specialize in only divorce or at least most of his or her practice is focused on family law and divorce. In this way the attorney has a better way of knowing how the judge may react to this or that in your case.
I had a free consult yesterday and nearly hired the attorney only to find that she has only about 20 % of her case load dealing with divorce.

Hope this line or reason helps. Good luck.