flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL360
why?
Probably for traffic separation at LGA.
You can’t have two planes occupying the same bit of sky at the same time, so somebody gets to fly a little further to give the other aircraft room. Slowing isn’t always a viable option.
Quick stop in a holding pattern for traffic spacing?
It could also have been a sector in one center’s airspace being too busy to take a handoff…(I’m not sure where the Center boundaries are though.) If the receiving sector can’t or won’t take the handoff, then the aircraft is spun until they can.
Dude got the spins after a few too many “coffees” if you get what I’m saying winkwink*