'A Zillow analysis found that “between 1997 and 2014, homes within a quarter-mile of a Starbucks increased in value by 96 percent, on average, compared with 65 percent for all U.S. homes.”'

Maybe Starbucks preferred to put its stores where values would appreciate more. And New York City was not established as a hipster/monastic enterprise: it has always been there to make money.