Alice, the wealthy in NYC are Democrats, not Republicans. Wealthy New Yorkers are all about the government taking responsibility for the poor and the needy, spreading the cost across the nation, rather than taking responsibility for their own neighbors.
Until New Yorkers take responsibility for their own, it is difficult to ask the rest of the country to step up and donate. New Yorkers are much wealthier than average Americans.
Actually, the Rockaways are heavily Republican ... both the new congressman who replaced Weiner and the head on NYS’s Conservative Party live in Rockaway. Both lost their homes in the fires.
In my experience, as a former employee of the City of New York, I found most union members vote Democratic because that's what their union reps told them to do. New York is a union town but they are not the wealthy.
And although you think New Yorkers are wealthier than average Americans, the cost of living is much higher there. A pack of cigarette costs more than $10. The toll to cross a bridge between two communities within the same zip code in Queens is $3.25 each way. I was able to buy two properties in Florida when I moved here and my combined mortgages were less than my rent in my 2-bedroom 900 sf apartment in NYC.