1. This is news in NYC? Just walk north on 5th Avenue from 92nd Street and you’ll get the same effect in about 15 blocks. EVERYONE who lives there understands this concept and learns to live with it.
2. Who keeps $1 million in a savings account?
Someone who keeps their real money in solid investments.
Someone who has so much cash that they don't need to worry about FDIC protection on one account.
It all depends on how much they turn over and how quickly they do so. We really don't know the situation involved. This could be someone of whom, this is all they have and they aren't bright. This could also be someone who has tens of millions or more in various investment vehicles and $1 Million you see here is what they need to have somewhat liquid to pay various expenses over the short period. Imagine, for example, a commercial plumbing contractor in NYC. They may need to have a large sum liquid to immediately pay suppliers for large jobs over several months. Just this one number really doesn't tell enough of a story to make a call on the wiseness of keeping this amount in a savings account.