Cities, but especially New York City, haven't kept up with changes and are only falling behind more and more. They're a design from prior to the piston engine and the automobile.
These cities went from a congregation in a viable area, usually a port, to a center of decay that relied on immigrants from worse conditions to cycle through them to keep them afloat.
The mass transit system was state of the art when it was built but is now a century out of date; unable to handle the current number of riders, insufficient escalators and elevators, narrow platforms, entering and exiting cars from the same side instead of using both, the inability to charge fares by distance instead of a flat rate, etc.
The sidewalks are too narrow for the amount of pedestrians, and few have room for safety pilings to protect pedestrians from vehicles, and little space to handle deliveries through pedestrian crowds. Lack of security distance from explosive laden vehicles is a whole other matter that takes it out of contention for many potential occupants.
The streets are too narrow for standard vehicles such as a tractor trailer. There's also not enough room for bicycles that continue to grow in usage due to the limits of other transportation options.
The buildings cannot house modern industry applications and are relegated to retail, offices, and apartments and very small ones at that. The only option for centuries has been to continue building skyward but such costs are prohibitive and the setup is limiting.
These cities are overly dependent on commuters as well as goods shipped in from farther and farther away but are using infrastructure from more than a century ago.
These cities are prohibitively expensive and restrictive on raising children. That alone poses a limit a city will never get past. Incentivizing senior citizens' departures doesn't bode well either.
The city does not have alleys for deliveries and garbage It all has to be done from the streets in front.
Right on all accounts.
It was a beautiful place when I grew up there in the forties and fifties.
I am so grateful for the time I had there when it was “A Wonderful Town.”