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I have lived in New York City for 51 years and totally agree with the OP. This city is a cesspool. It's mean, nasty and dirty. Mayor Crookberg has sold it to his rich cronies while stomping on the middle and poor classes. We pay for all the services the rich use and they use loopholes to avoid their fair share of taxes. Wake up New Yorkers and take your city back. Stop buying into the "dream" you will never be allowed to achieve. No honest wage will allow you to succeed in this city. Paying $700,000 for a shoebox house is ludicrous. Wall Street bonuses inflate the cost of everything in this city and keep the average person struggling to survive.
Thanks all for your comments to my story! I write for websites, magazines, and a direct mail ad firm. Although I am, on paper, a "freelance" writer (and I have to file taxes as a self-employed individual), I work on a daily basis in and out of offices, and my home office. I have four gigs that pay me a flat monthly fee ranging from $1,000 - $4,100. On top of that I contribute regularly to magazines that pay me per article. All that combined gives me an average monthly income of around $10,000. And yes, I am incredibly lucky - I was definitely in the right place at the right time on some occasions - but was also very determined and worked my way up to get here
Also, I should have noted, I began freelance writing when I was in college and I happened to gain a lot of contacts over those years, though I somewhat abandoned them when I moved to NYC. I got back in touch with a handful of those guys when I first started thinking about financial independence through freelancing. My full-time job was also in the editorial industry. So, I did not actually just launch a freelance career out of thin air, but building it to the point of making a comfortable living from it was definitely not easy.
Thanks all for your comments to my story! I write for websites, magazines, and a direct mail ad firm. Although I am, on paper, a "freelance" writer (and I have to file taxes as a self-employed individual), I work on a daily basis in and out of offices, and my home office. I have four gigs that pay me a flat monthly fee ranging from $1,000 - $4,100. On top of that I contribute regularly to magazines that pay me per article. All that combined gives me an average monthly income of around $10,000. And yes, I am incredibly lucky - I was definitely in the right place at the right time on some occasions - but was also very determined and worked my way up to get here
Also, I should have noted, I began freelance writing when I was in college and I happened to gain a lot of contacts over those years, though I somewhat abandoned them when I moved to NYC. I got back in touch with a handful of those guys when I first started thinking about financial independence through freelancing. My full-time job was also in the editorial industry. So, I did not actually just launch a freelance career out of thin air, but building it to the point of making a comfortable living from it was definitely not easy.
I envy you. I've been out of college for nearly 9 months and still struggling to find a job. Interviews come by often, but it's hard to get that offer. There must be 10 applicants per job in New York.
Comfortable NYC living is not easily accomplished. My sister sounds like the OP, minus a few years. Sister is a very sheltered white girl raised on Long Island who is only as well-traveled as our grandfather's vacation property portfolio is diverse. She too entertains notions of living the life of multiple attractive sexual partners, money to spend and spare on clothing, sushi, and drinks, in addition to a fashionable apartment. With perhaps a degree in communications from a middling NY metro area college (Hofstra).
Our cousin is 27 working for Deutsche Bank, also a Hofstra graduate. Yet somehow she does not have the money to leave her father's house in Long Island and establish herself with a starter apt here on LI, let alone property in NYC. But then again, she spends to maintain a lifestyle which can best be described as an admixture of Sex and the City and Jersey Shore.
I have passed the halfway mark of my degree abroad and will go wherever I can to satiate my thirst for cash. I am forging my network with the similar ruthlessness a socialite prunes her list of country club friends as they prove "useless." I hold no foolish superstitions about hard work alone carrying me. Of course, I am limited in never learning how to drive. I began to learn in high school and dropped it entirely when I left for Europe.
I sympathize with the OP. It's tough, but if you have a skill set (read: degree), you could stay. If not, go somewhere more friendly to the blue collar workforce, as I doubt NYC will change anytime soon.
Thanks all for your comments to my story! I write for websites, magazines, and a direct mail ad firm. Although I am, on paper, a "freelance" writer (and I have to file taxes as a self-employed individual), I work on a daily basis in and out of offices, and my home office. I have four gigs that pay me a flat monthly fee ranging from $1,000 - $4,100. On top of that I contribute regularly to magazines that pay me per article. All that combined gives me an average monthly income of around $10,000. And yes, I am incredibly lucky - I was definitely in the right place at the right time on some occasions - but was also very determined and worked my way up to get here
Also, I should have noted, I began freelance writing when I was in college and I happened to gain a lot of contacts over those years, though I somewhat abandoned them when I moved to NYC. I got back in touch with a handful of those guys when I first started thinking about financial independence through freelancing. My full-time job was also in the editorial industry. So, I did not actually just launch a freelance career out of thin air, but building it to the point of making a comfortable living from it was definitely not easy.
Hmm...makes sense. I asked because I work in journalism. I have a staff job at a business trade magazine, and, needless to say, it doesn't pay very much. It's enough to get by and have a social life, but I would like to be able to save a little more (since moving out of my parents' house a year ago, I've only been able to save maybe 7-8% of my net income) and travel a little more (I'd really like to go abroad again, but it would wipe out most of my bank account). I know I could have it a lot worse, but I'd really like to make more money - which is hard, in this business.
Hey, I make over 100 grand a year in a blue collar union job. Just saying...btw, 100 grand isn't that MUCH for NYC....sigh!
Too bad Ronald Regan turned the working and middle class against the unions.Somehow the Republicans actually convinced people that unions were their enemy and now most of the working and middle class has nobody to defend them.
So the clock has been turned back 100 years to when everyone is either filthy rich or dirt poor.Unfortunately it's the vast majority on the short end of the stick.
Funny piece. As a NY'er I almost wish there was a grain of truth in it. It would be great if at least some of the influx of people of the last 10 years would leave. According to all accounts though ,the migration TO NYC has actually picked up in the last few years( more coming in than going out) because most of the rest of the country has is dying.
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and now most of the working and middle class has nobody to defend them. 
