Despite the age of this thread, I'll toss in my $.02 as a hand who has visited NYC a dozen times, including one 2-day jaunt wherein I explored as much of Manhattan as I could. Here's a link to the story of that adventure:
Monkey Business In Manhattan
Ya gotta close that first pop-up window, after that you'll be okay, lol. Anyway, I found NYC to be an interesting place to visit, but I damned sure wouldn't wanna live there, aye? And I'll list my reasons for NOT wanting to live there...
First of all, rents are SKY-HIGH, and no minimum wage worker will be able to make the rent. Cost of living is high too, though you can trim that by looking for bargains while you shop for food, alcohol, etc. But utilities are also expensive, compared to smaller towns & rural areas.
Traffic is INSANE, and I ought to know, having driven a big truck into that burg numerous times... not only that, the money which SHOULD have gone to repairing infrastructure has gone directly into the pockets of SCUMBAG POLITICIANS, so the roads & bridges themselves are in bad shape.
Many country rubes have a glamorous vision of NYC as depicted in numerous BULLSHIT HOLLYWOOD MOVIES... in reality, much of NYC is gritty & dirty, and CRIME is rampant in certain areas. Not quite so GLAMOROUS as depicted in those propaganda films, LOL.
Now, there are heller cool aspects of NYC: it's a bustling metropolis surrounded by a magnificent harbor, so I recommend the Harbor Tour with NY Water Taxi. I'm no shill for the company, but they offered a damned good $30 deal on a 2-day pass while I was exploring Manhattan.
Yo, TheSkaFish, since you mentioned crowds, read that bit about trying to hide my knife after being bouted by the Feds on the Liberty Tour, lol. Nothing you do in NYC will really be private, unless you do it under the cover of darkness, and that's when the muggers operate, lol.
The public transportation system isn't bad, 270+ miles of subway track under NYC, which is a considerable feat of engineering... but every time ya board the train, "CHA-CHING!" It's gonna cost ya, though it might cost less than paying out the ying-yang for gasoline or diesel, lol.
Might wanna carry some bear spray while ya ride public transport, maybe even a loaded pistol, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! It'll certainly be safer that way, if ya catch my drift. Meh, as adults we all make choices, just remember that criminals make choices too, and not beneficial ones either.
What else? Oh, yeah, the air quality, which is SHITHOUSE... if ya like sucking smog, then move to NYC. I was fortunate during my 2-day jaunt in Manhattan, there was a nice breeze which kept the air *fairly* fresh, but there's no getting around all those auto emissions, 10-4?
Truth be told, these other hands who responded have it right: if anything, take a little tour of NYC and see just how expensive it can get living in that burg. Talk to some locals and get an idea of what rents cost. Those alone should deter you from wanting to move there, believe me.
Moi, I had a BLAST during my 2-day jaunt in Manhattan, but I was self-sufficient in my truck, which was idling away in New Jersey (adding to the pollution, no doubt), so I didn't have to worry about hotel fare, making the rent, etc. In trucking, a man's sleeper is his castle, lol.
So, OP, if you happen to read this, and you haven't already been shot & killed by some mugger in Manhattan, you might wanna consider the excellent advice given by others in this thread. Life in "The Bluegrass" would be far easier and WAY less expensive, YEAH?
This seems like a classic case of the grass being "greener" on the other side of the fence... lemme tell ya, grass doesn't GROW in NYC, and there's a REASON for that, lol. The birds wake up at dawn and go: "CHEEP, CHEEP... HAAAAACK!!!" Choking on the smog, of course.
I'd sooner stay in Kentucky and buy a primo country property where I wasn't dealing with CROWDS, TRAFFIC, SMOG, HELLER CRIME, ETC. And I get it, you have this vision of NYC as some Utopian Paradise... but I can assure you, it is NOT what you think.
It's still an interesting place to VISIT, that much is certain, I still remember seeing trippy honeysuckle there, including underground clubs and vertical parking spaces, those were a goddam trip, lol. Try parking BIG TRUCKS that way, LOL... yeah, good luck with THAT, and CHEERS!!!