According to Wall Street Journal, commercial rents on 5th Ave between Rock Center and Central Park South are $3000 per square foot (per .1 meter square) per month, the highest in the USA (world?).
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323622904578129281141997760.htmlAccording to the NYTimes, Times Square Commercial Real Estate is renting for $2000 per sq foot / month.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/13/realestate/commercial/hectic-times-square-is-keeping-the-developers-busy.html?pagewanted=allOn the residential end, NYC is 8th among per square foot costs of luxury apartments at $2000.
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/real-estate/new-york-real-estate-bargain-article-1.1285184New York is home to the world’s largest population — 7,500 — of people with more than $30 million in assets. Of the 432 billionaires in the United States, 102 are New Yorkers.
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/real-estate/new-york-real-estate-bargain-article-1.1285184#ixzz2NT9QwMNOAbout 100,000 New Yorkers are homeless, or near homeless (spent a night in the shelters in the past year), 40,000 of whom are children. This is 7% of the US homeless population. NYC is about 3% of the US population.
http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/pages/basic-factshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness_in_the_United_StatesThe NYC poverty rate is 21%, or 1.7 million New Yorkers. Poverty is a national figure, so for a single person that is $11,000 a year, and for a family of four, that is $24,000. NYC is one of America's most expensive cities, so the poverty rate is actually higher.
The median NYC income is $50,000.
The median apartment cost is around $750,000.
The average Manhattan rent is $3,500 per month. The over-all vacancy rate is less than 2%. The affordable housing vacancy rate is much less.
http://www.wnyc.org/articles/wnyc-news/2012/sep/20/new-york-city-poverty-rate-third-year-row/