Rent is a problem all over the country, not just in New York. My cousin lives out in California. Their problem is worse. I never been there, but the way she described it, she had like a very small mother-in-law suite in the house. Hurting for money, she rented it out for $1,500 a month, and she had a line of people that wanted it.
Younger people today are not interested in home ownership. It's not that they can't afford a home, it's that they don't want to deal with keeping it up, cutting the lawn, snow blowing the drive and things like that. They just want to come home, have dinner and play video games on the big screen.
It's a supply and demand thing which elevates the price, but great for us landlords.