indoor antenna recommendation requested

[gonzo]

I ive in Jersey City just across from the World Trade Center very near the Holland Tunnel exit on the Jersey side.
My apartment faces north so I can see the George Washington Bridge and the Empire State Building.
I understand from this site and tvfool.com that most of the broadcasting stations (2.1, 4.1, 5.1, 7.1) come from the city about 2.8 miles away at an azimuth of approximately 60 degrees true north (roughly 70 degrees magnetic north).
This would be either from the Empire State Building or Rockefeller Center I believe.
Despite the proximity to the transmitting stations, my analog reception was dismal and my digital reception is marginal. Sometimes the stations come in good and sometime they don't.
I now have an additional problem where one TV in my bedroom gets 4.1 but another TV in my living room doesn't (says no signal). I'm thinking possible tuner sensitiity differences between the tv's but really don't know if that's the reason or something else.
Right now I have rabbit ears VHF / UHF antennas. They are not the same, but comparable to each other. I read that the stations are coming in UHF but I do get differences in reception when I play with the VHF antenna lengths.
I've read some and believe, rightly or wrongly, that multipath signals and building interference might be a large factor in the marginal reception because of where I live and where the signals are coming from.
Your website and TVFool.com indicate I'm in a good reception zone (green) with no co-channel or adjacent channel interference problems.
TVFool.com says my Noise Margin is around 72 and my power level coming in is around -17.
My questions center around:
1. Most probable causes of marginal reception in this area.
2. Possible recommendation for type of indoor antenna that might provide additional buffers from the marginal conditions. Should it be amplified, omni-directional, directional, VHF/UHF, etc.
3. Possible recommendations as to placement of this antenna?
I was toying with the idea of getting a small outdoor type antenna and placing it near the window and pointing it towards the empire state building. Is that worth a shot, waste of time, etc?

[tigerbangs]

why-predicting-reception-with-indoor-antennas-impossible-t1024.html