They can't afford the rent in Lower Manhattan anymore unless they are wealthy, but my artist relative can because they held on to that apartment and didn't move for over forty years. If the LES hadn't totally changed in that time and was still a dangerous shithole, I doubt the rent would have gone up very much, but of course my relative would still be living in a dangerous shithole. As far as I know, these doctors and stockbrokers that are his neighbors will be enjoying rent control on what they were paying when they moved in, because apparently we should give the well to do every advantage, at least in NYC.

I have a nice two bedroom apartment in a green, safe, quiet neighborhood in a city, with a lovely park and tons of amenities nearby. I'm even close to my workplace, and I pay under a grand a month, but we don't have rent control here. My absentee landlord hasn't raised my rent for four years because I pay 2 months in advance, I keep the common areas of the building clean, plant flowers in front every year, and don't ask her for anything. That's how I control my rent.