Interesting suggestion I think you are making here. The timing lines up. Obama moved to NYC in the fall of 1981. No one can confirm what in the world he did while he was there. This is when he met his mentor Bill Ayers and we know holds Black Liberation values in his heart. I wonder if there is video footage of this.
At least we know what he DIDN'T do there which was attend Columbia University. Or at least he attended it very rarely. I don't think any student in history was moved up the education ladder by putting in LESS effort than Obama. And what was Obama's reward for rarely attending classes at Columbia? Why, to be promoted to Harvard Law School where for doing NOTHING he was chosen to become President of the Harvard Law Review where, of course, he wrote NOTHING.