Originally Posted by newyorkgeorge

Generally, but by no means always, late night flights go up the East River for a more direct approach, meaning you want to be sitting on the left side. Day and early evening flights more up the Hudson River to the North and then the turn back around to LGA, the right side. Also, approaches can change very close to landing (on a number of occassions the pilot has come on the intercom to announce a different approach).