For some reason I thought he taught out in Staten Island. Oh well...His brother was a bartender at a pretty decent ginmill for years.
The "trick" about NYC that most don't realize it that it's a very pragmatic city. It produces the expertise needed for business. And if it can't produce the expertise, then it steals it away with higher salaries.
Although most see NYC as a "socialist" state, the truth of the matter is, it's the most capitalistic city on the planet.
Uhm is Stuyvesent in Staten Island ?(she asks with a blush revealing herself woefully ignorant of NYC)