Since there is no more "Commando Quarterly" and since the FAQ doesn't list specific contacts for NY, can we list generic contacts for our character, and will they benefit us any?

Contacts always benifit you.. note that in Denver there was no base street doc contact anywhere. So if you wanted to have someone avilible for this sort of thing, yo uhad to buy the contact yourself. Never bad to load up on contact you might need.

Previously you lost all your contacts if you relocated a characer from one city to another-- we are about to move from NYC to Seattle. I know longer believe in wasting BP's on contacts for a non-face player.

You lost the contacts you had collected during play in the Denver mission. Toss out your collection of 1/3 sheets of paper.

Did you lose all your contacts you had paid BP for in character creation too?

Yes. It's cut and dry: you lose all contacts.

Actually, that's not 100% correct. From the Character Transfer Guide:

Continuing Characters
Players who wish to keep using their characters from the SRM02 (Denver) campaign are allowed to do so. Players should complete a Karma Transfer form (see p. 4), and have a gamemaster sign off on it, after reviewing their SRM02 debriefing
logs. Characters transferred in this way will lose all faction ratings (factions are different in NYC) and any contacts gained in the campaign. Note also that any Denver based contacts they had established who were not official campaign contacts may be less useful to them from half-way across North America.

Emphasis added. So, you lose all the contacts you gained during the Missions events, but those on whom you spent BP remain your contacts. Just decidedly less useful if they're based in Denver.

Robert (aka Spanner)

SR Missions FAQ

Note that as a Missions GM I generally allow contacts paid for with BP to be useful despite the fact the character is no longer in the same city. Everyone's connected after all. There's only so many degrees of separation.