I pay $2000 for 2bd 1.5bath apartment in Brookline, Boston MA
Also, Manhattan is currently a pretty healthy real estate market, so he's likely to make a profit when he sells the apartment. So it's hard to compare this number to a simple rent payment.
R/E tax is also deductible.
We “extracted” enough from sales of two previous apartments to give us close to 65% equity in our current apartment.
Prior to buying a co–op we were paying $8900/month in rent for a 900 square foot two bedroom. Manhattan is certainly an expensive choice to live, but we both walk to work and have 2+ hours a day extra by avoiding commuting.
As for what I do: I solve catastrophically expensive technical problems for companies for a percentage of the savings. My partner works for a large I/T conglomerate. Between us we make enough that $120k/year in housing costs are manageable.