The loss of the financial sector jobs in NYC can never be reversed, and the ripples of those losses were felt in NJ and CT as well. On top of that, when backup sites were required outside a 50 mile? radius around the city, more companies figured they may as well just operate one site instead of two - outside of the city altogether...
The commuting between NJ and NYC has become so expensive people will only do that for well-paid jobs; our “third tunnel” project was shelved years ago because studies showed there simply wasn’t sufficient demand. Proponents (unions and such) argues that people might want to “see a Broadway show” - they were reduced to that feeble argument.
My husband and I are hardly rich and my husband commutes on a regular basis. Hundreds of people ride the rail into Manhattan. You get paid more in that town as well.