Know some retail traders that trade out of one of their NJ offices. From what I understand, Carlin charges $10 ticket charge plus ECN fees and clears through SLK. You can do much better.
If you have a Series 7 (or plan on getting it), try Echo or Bright. If not, consider trading from home using Interactive Brokers or Tradestation 6 using a cable modem or DSL.
Good luck.