As someone who grew up in NYC I can tell you that it's all about expectations. If you expect to have a big yard and 5 bedroom home in NYC and expect the price to be the same as something in BFE then you will be disappointed. If your wife doesn't like driving she will love NYC. Many of my adult family members don't even own cars, for example both my parents. I know of a few pilots based at TEB that live in manhattan and don't own cars. They tale public transport or a cab to TEB. Living in the city isn't for everyone while others love it for all it's cultural benefits. I live in Brooklyn(still technically in NYC, but it is more suburban than manhattan) and it takes roughly 35 mins to get to TEB. At my last job I was home based and was airlined from LGA and didn't own a car for 4 years. So if your schedule allows it, i would skip owning a car and live in manhattan if it would make your family happy.