I was in Manhattan in 1995 and remember paying $9 for a beer, without tip. Keep surviving in NYC! - it's just not for me.
There is no other way to put it but: You are the ideal sucker for a tourist trap. I can't even think of what place would charge 9 dollars a beer in 2001 other than Webster Hall, which is a prime tourist trap for Eurotrash. A 9 dollar beer in 1995? Did you go to the hotel bar of Waldorf Astoria or smth? People also keep overlooking that NYC is one of the few cities in USA where you do not need a car.
It's a warzone up there. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/nyregion/06hit.html?em&ex=1207627200&en=3490fbc7f987b487&ei=5087
As a side note... saw part of a show from the BBC about "Guys and Their Dolls". Prices start at about $8,000... owners say, "worth every penny". Weird. Interestingly if your favorite gal's pubic hair wears thin, you can buy "genuine pubic hair replacement"... Swedish, no less. (Sounds like a genuine opportunity for a real entrepreneur.)
I only date realdolls! $6,499.00 and worth it, always in the mood...and never nags. http://www.realdoll.com/
NYC sucks. I live here for over 20 years, and hate it every day. Tax is one of the highest in the country. Fed, State, local tax account to 30 to 60% of your pay. The rest of then go to rent. The only reason I am still here because my family is here.
The numbers for NYC look different depending on the area included. NYC numbers that include all 5 boroughs have lower numbers because the other 4 boroughs are cheaper to live in than Manhattan. Look here http://www.corcoran.com/ If you think those prices are cheap, then more power to you. But, in my book, Manhattan is expensive to live in. I rented a 2BR/2Bath 1100 sq ft apt in Manhattan from 1996-2001. Rent started at $2700/month and was $3200/month when I moved out. Last time I checked, the same apt was going for $4,000 per month. I lived in Manhattan for over 8 years. I loved it and I hated it. But the longer I lived there, the less I hated it and the more I loved it. Manhattan is a great place to live . . . if you can afford it.
Hate to tell you, but there's a whole lot more to NY state than NYC. I love NYC, and have lived there, but now live 25 miles away, on the Hudson, with trees everywhere, deer, wild turkey, even coyotes and foxes running around. Plus, I'm 35 minutes from the greatest city in the world, have much better restaurants than you ever will here and in the city, and kickass public schools. Plus, my kids get to grow up with a cosmopolitan flair of feeling a part of the great metro area. Detroit, no thank you. Please.