It is not unusual in the NY area to be fine on fuel at TOD. Then approach gets ahold of you and your options just went out the window. I think the guys did the right thing here. I don't know what the normal pod clearance is on the 767 but in the 744 you will probably strike #2 or #3 if you push past 30 kts x-wind.

As an aside, if this type of thing or another type of emergency happens outside the USA, saying you are declaring an emergency most likely will not compute. "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday" gets attention a lot faster than a half hearted emergency declaration.