"Brooklyn's price premium needs little explanation. Too many Manhattan ex-pats sought refuge from what were (circa 2004) nosebleed rents in the more gentrified Brooklyn nabes. Those with the money and inclination to keep up with the Joneses (mostly finance slaves) remained in competitive Manhattan as the disaffected defected across the Brooklyn Bridge. Now, the financial markets Manhattanites depended on have imploded, forcing them to depart NYC entirely. Such movement caused a jump in Manhattan vacancy and a corresponding decrease in rents. Brooklyn's denizens are less likely to be among The Street's pink-slipped and express-shipped, meaning more Brooklyn units probably remain occupied, immune to the Nightmare on Wall Street, keeping rents relatively high. But one must admit that the comparison made in the Daily News compared the best of Brooklyn (Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, etc.) against some of renters' least desired Manhattan neighborhoods (LES and the far UES)." [Will People Pay More to Live in Brooklyn Than Manhattan?]
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