20 October, 2025

How to Afford New York (Emotionally, Not Financially)

How to Afford New York (Emotionally, Not Financially)

The other day, I watched a girl eat a $27 salad on the Q train like it was completely normal. No shame. No seat. Just a lukewarm Sweetgreen bowl balanced on her Marc Jacobs tote while the train jerked somewhere under Canal Street. And I thought: this is peak New York—delusional, overpriced, and somehow still glamorous.

Every few months, a new article drops like a bombshell: “No One Can Afford to Live in New York City Anymore.” The rent is too high, the groceries are a personal insult, and don’t even get me started on the “one-bedroom” listings that are just a stove staring at a mattress. Yet here we are. Still coming. Still staying. Still swiping $2,000 a month for a closet in Bushwick like it’s a badge of honor.

According to Apartments.com, the median rent for a one-bedroom in Manhattan is now about $4,041. That’s more than most people’s pre-tax paycheck, and yet New York isn’t emptying out. In fact, it's growing. Between the TikTok dreamers, remote workers chasing their “main character moment,” and the die-hard locals who’d rather sell a kidney than give up their lease, the city remains not just alive, but seductive.

So what gives? Why are we still obsessed with a city that treats us like an overdrawn bank account?

The Fantasy Machine

New York isn’t just a place. It’s an aesthetic, a storyline, a mood board you can live inside (if you don’t mind splitting it with three roommates and a mouse named Greg). For decades, pop culture has sold us a version of this city that’s equal parts chaos and charisma. And we bought it in bulk.

In the early 2000s, we had Sex and the City, where Carrie Bradshaw somehow afforded a rent-stabilized one-bedroom in the West Village and a shoe collection that could finance a down payment. Then came Gossip Girl, peddling penthouse drama and school uniforms more expensive than some wedding dresses. Fast forward to now, and the New York narrative has gone digital: TikTok montages of girls in oversized blazers doing “hot girl walks” through SoHo, sipping $8 matcha lattes and calling it self-care. The city is the background, but also the main character.

On Instagram, it’s apartment tours with “exposed brick” (read: crumbling), rooftop selfies at golden hour, and close-ups of croissants that cost more than lunch in most cities. And on YouTube, it’s a steady stream of “day in my life” vlogs that somehow never show the laundry trek or the 6 a.m. construction outside your window.

The myth of New York has always been that it’s worth the struggle. That the stress, the cost, the tiny kitchens and shared bathrooms—all of it is part of the charm. In this city, even your inconvenience feels curated.

But here’s the trick: the more inaccessible New York becomes, the more desirable it seems. Like a velvet rope you can’t get past or a limited-edition drop, it gains value in its exclusivity. And that exclusivity now lives online.

It’s lifestyle branding. The New York “look” is now as exportable as a fragrance campaign: think trench coats, wired headphones, bagels eaten ironically. Whether you're in Iowa or Istanbul, you can buy into the fantasy. But only a select few get to live it for real, and even then, it’s mostly just cleverly edited.

The Harsh Reality (But Make It Charming)

Of course, for every dreamy TikTok showing sunrise over the Williamsburg Bridge, there’s a less-Instagrammable truth just out of frame—like the broken elevator in your sixth-floor walk-up, or the fact that your “home office” is a folding chair wedged between your bed and your closet.

Let’s talk numbers for a moment. According to housing reports from 2025, more than half of New York renters are considered rent-burdened, meaning they spend over 30% of their income on rent. In some neighborhoods, that jumps to over 50% of revenue (and that’s before utilities, groceries, or the occasional emergency Uber when the F train mysteriously disappears for the night).

The average salary in NYC clocks in around $77,000 a year. Sounds decent, until you realize that with taxes, rent, and basic survival, most New Yorkers are living paycheck to paycheck, only here, your paycheck just covers the privilege of being tired all the time.

And then there’s the glamour of daily life: the 90-minute commute that includes a delayed train, a mysterious smell, and a passive-aggressive shuffle with someone who refuses to take off their backpack. The joy of lugging Trader Joe’s bags up four flights of stairs because your building “has character” but no elevator. The romantic unpredictability of hot water that works… sometimes.

Still, we don’t leave.

Because even as the city exhausts you, it also energizes you. Even as it chews through your checking account, it feeds your ambition. New York is the only place where you can have a panic attack in Duane Reade and five minutes later feel completely inspired by a stranger’s outfit.

It’s a city built on contradictions. It's deeply unaffordable and yet, somehow, priceless.

So Why Do We Stay?

If New York were a person, she’d be high-maintenance, emotionally unavailable, and perpetually 15 minutes late—but somehow, you’re still in love with her. You swear you’re done, and then she does something magical, like turn the corner of a random Tuesday into a scene from a movie, and suddenly you’re back.

Because beneath the rent hikes and the shared laundry and the constant noise (literal and metaphorical), New York still sells one thing better than anywhere else: possibility. Not certainty. Not comfort. But the promise that something could happen. Something big, life-changing, just around the corner, if you can stick it out long enough to find it.

For creatives, it’s still Mecca. For strivers, it’s still the proving ground. For people who were told they were “too much” in smaller places, it’s the only city that tells you you’re not enough… yet.

There’s also the FOMO factor. If you leave, who are you? Just another person with cheaper rent and easier mornings? New York has a way of making you believe that every sacrifice is part of your origin story. That one day, you’ll tell the tale of your roach-infested studio with pride because it was the prelude to something extraordinary.

And in a strange way, the struggle is the flex. The fewer square feet you live in, the more character you must have to survive it. You’re not just in New York. You’re doing New York. And if you can make it here (yes, cliché, but unfortunately still true), you get to say so for the rest of your life.

The Bittersweet Goodbye (That Isn’t One)

Sure, I could leave. I could move to a city where rent includes square footage, where brunch doesn’t require a 45-minute wait, and where the subway doesn’t spontaneously flood on a sunny day. I could have a driveway. A washer/dryer. Maybe even central air.

But then, who would I be?

Because, despite all logic, and maybe against my better financial judgment, I don’t want to leave. I want the version of myself that only exists here: the one who’s a little scrappier, a little savvier, and still believes that something incredible might happen on the next block.

Yes, New York is expensive. Yes, it’s exasperating. But it’s also electric. And even if the cost of living borders on cruel, the cost of leaving? For some of us, it’s just too high.

Newsletter

Subscribe To Our
Weekly Newsletter

Receive fresh updates on new deals, new listings, and latest news on everything Platuni.

newsletter

Related Posts

I Rented a Basement Suite That Had a Secret Room

20 Oct, 2025

I Rented a Basement Suite That Had a Secret Room

I thought I’d found the deal of the year: $900 for a quiet basement suite in Boston. Then the tapping started. What I found behind that wall still keeps me awake at night.

6 Tips on Finding and Settling With the Perfect Host Family

20 Aug, 2025

6 Tips on Finding and Settling With the Perfect Host Family

Your choice of living arrangements as an international student can either make or mar your experience. Be intentional! This article is the eye opener you need.

Cultural Exchange as a Tool for Conflict Resolution in the Workplace

20 Dec, 2024

Cultural Exchange as a Tool for Conflict Resolution in the Workplace

Let's discuss how cultural exchange can be an effective tool for conflict resolution in the workplace, emphasizing how understanding diverse perspectives fosters empathy and collaboration to resolve disputes constructively.

Want your room to stay organized 24/7?

Looking For Your Perfect Roommate?