Jeff, congrats on your new bass, and welcome to this club/family. I too cannot comment about the strings but I can tell you that I live in Montreal, surrounded by water, and in the summer it's as humid as N.Y., or worse. My personal rule of thumb is, if I 'feel' humid, chances are so does my bass. There are a few different types of dehumidifiers available and they all will do the job. Just don't leave your bass in the car, schlep it with you.
Oh, don't forget, post more pictures!!
Ellery (Lowlife)