This is transparently false - the median household income in Manhattan is somewhere around 65k. This is high, but it is not remotely the reality presented.
If people are being "priced out", it's by other peoples' willingness to pay more for rent. The masochism of people moving to New York City these days astounds me - they're willing to live in some really terrible conditions to live in New York. Similarly, when I lived in Paris I lived in a ludicrously small apartment with a bathroom in the public hallway. My willingness to pay even a small amount for even that crappy setup "priced out" the potential of combining the space with another apartment or something. What an asshole I am!
If people are being "priced out", it's by other peoples' willingness to pay more for rent. The masochism of people moving to New York City these days astounds me - they're willing to live in some really terrible conditions to live in New York. Similarly, when I lived in Paris I lived in a ludicrously small apartment with a bathroom in the public hallway. My willingness to pay even a small amount for even that crappy setup "priced out" the potential of combining the space with another apartment or something. What an asshole I am!