Ting ruled out the existence of an USA chapter because of the existence of the New York chapter. It is equally clear that the WMF organisation does not want to fulfill the role of an USA chapter. When Dan asks me and Anthere not to use the "sub-chapter" word, he is right in that the board names them a chapter, but the issue of the New York chapter having fewer abilities and responsibilities is conveniently swept under the carpet in this way.
The prefix sub indicates that it is less then the norm. For me it is obvious that some great five or more people will make the NYC a success. What I want to learn is in what way the national concerns that I expect a functional chapter to take care off will be handled for the USA. This is the crucial bit of thinking, information that is missing. And as long as this is not clear, the NYC is a sub-par to me.
What abilities and responsibilities does WMNYC not have that other chapters do? And "sub" usually means "a small version that is contained with a full one", without a WMUS, there is no chapter for WMNYC to be a sub-chapter of. If you want a term to just mean "less than a full chapter" try mini-chapter, although the (apparently ill-defined) area covered by WMNYC does seem to be as large in terms as population and economy as many of our "full" chapters.