Housing costs in NYC will remain high as long as it's the greatest city in the history of world civilization of course, that does add an attractive element.

But NYC has a lot of options and many of them are affordable, there's much more to it than just Manhattan and gentrified Brooklyn. It has the ability to actually build, so there's somewhat of a pressure relief valve. And though it's problematic by European standards it clearly has a far more effective and comprehensive mass transit system than any other city in the western hemisphere.

I'll disagree with your characterization.

There are reasons why the retired and most families end up leaving NYC fairly quickly. And those reasons are often rent and accessibility of the transit (subways don't have elevators, generally).

NYC is affordable for professionals without kids. It's very expensive in time, money, or both to live in NYC with a blue-collar income.