Thanks for the correction. It's been a long time (never ) since I waitlisted, and either the rules had changed or that I never needed to contemplate this rule. It's a great benefit to know.

IMO, there is still plenty time for availability to turn up. Like me, being LAX based, OP's NYC point of origin reduces the risk of missing the connecting flights to/from the gateway. Also, I usually book BR J awards for my family only 10-30 days in advance, and so far so good, I've never had difficulty with availability to show up close-in.

Rather than booking now and end up paying $200 in fees + 3 x roundtrip Taipei-Tokyo fares, personally I would exercise patience and not book the outbound until EWR-NRT becomes available in Polaris, and snap up TPE-JFK in BR J whenever it becomes available for booking.