“I’m no fan of Bloomberg or this move, but NYC is as crowded as ever.”
Bloomberg doesn’t think so; he wanted it to be a “sanctuary city” because so many people were fleeing. On 9/11 there were a lot of office vacancies in the WTC (so much so that people saw no point in rebuilding it if there was no demand for the space); northern NJ has had a lot of people and companies move over from Manhattan. NY lost some electoral power (as did NJ) in the last census; a lot of the new inhabitants don’t count because they are “undocumented”.
9/11 was 11 years ago!
NYC continues to have an influx of upper-income residents while, yes, plenty of illegals too. Look at real estate prices—purchase and rental—in NYC and the city is doing very well, even while managing above average unemployment largely due to strains in the financial sector.
Also, NYC continues to draw young talent nationwide that often ends up settling in the tri-state region when it comes to raising a family. (Though more are staying in Manhattan and Brooklyn all the time.)