I flew at FRG for a few years. It was a major pain to get there from Flatbush sometimes. There really is only one way to go. But I think LDJ should be similar. There were other issues with FRG, some minor and some more major. First, it is busy. Some people think that means it's scary for beginners, which might be true. But it becomes a major pain and can be expensive even for experienced pilots when you have to wait 45 minutes on a Sunday to take off. I was once there at night when I was renting at NFI (Hobbs time) and a controller had me go around 3 times to make way for jets to land. This was at night when it wasn't so busy. I can understand one go-around to accommodate a jet but this literally cost me an extra $75 or so.
Another issue is that fuel costs more at FRG. Also, the airport is quite large and has a pretty serious security system going on (whether it works is a different question). It costs $70 for a 2 year pass to get on the field plus another $100/year to be able to drive your car to the plane. If you choose not to get the drive-on pass, it will be a bit of a trek to get to some planes. This becomes especially annoying in very cold or very hot weather. Nothing worse than doing preflight in 35 degree weather and realizing you forgot your flashlight, fuel drainer or that you need a wrench to pry open the oil reservoir because the last guy decided to show how strong he is and tightened it like the oil was gonna lose its fizz if he didn't tighten it.
There are other things about FRG that I don't like but there are some things that I like. However, considering the fact that the drive is at least as long as to LDJ for most people in BP and Flatbush, I say LDJ is a better bet for most people. This is especially true for a student because if you have a good instructor, you will likely get to your first solo faster at a non-towered airport. I trained at MSV up in Swan Lake and I soloed with 8.6 hours (officially. In actuality, some of that was an intro flight, some I didn't learn much, and the real time I would say was more like 5.5-6 hours).