I am in the same time zone as New York and Washington DC. Because government likes to make things confusing, the time is altered every Autumn and Spring. If you have a smart phone, you can likely add Pittsburgh Pennsylvania to your world clock. If Pittsburgh is not available, then use New York City or Washington DC. Otherwise, you can go to https://fsp.to/time which should give you the most accurate time no matter where you are in the world.
As for my time keeping, I use the 24 hour format, but I know this is unusual (because I like to be strange). Unless I know that your location does 24 hour format, I will convert my time to the 12 hour AM/PM format.