Melo associates Brooklyn as his home as well as Baltimore, that's all that really matters and if I'm not mistaken his wife is from Brooklyn too, so it's a family decision as well.
Since when? Since he started thinking about his marketing opportunities as a member of the Knicks or Nets?
But yeah, there have been reports that his wife has been pushing him to play in NYC.
If you want to know what someone cares about, you don't have to look much farther then where they spends their money. Melo's charity work revolves around Baltimore (which his own web site calls his "home town"), Denver (where he plays), and Syracuse (where he played in college). The "WB" tatoo on his shoulder actually stands for West Baltimore. Dude has an Oriole tatoo on his arm, and had a custom '71 Chevelle done up with an Oriole paint job that he's currently auctioning for his charity foundation:
Guess he won't want to be driving that around in NYC ...