I'll take you task on this one, as a crummy 3 BR apartment in Manhattan is north of $2MM. Interest alone on that is $6700/mo. And I've personally seen number of dispiriting 3 BR's listed for $3MM.
Also, you can recoup up to $3K of that $5K mortgage by cutting the other luxury goods in the budget.
I guess the point is: any one item on this list might be justifiable. At the very least, each on its own is a totally reasonable luxury to indulge in after decades of not just hard but also smart and stressful work. But the budget, taken as a whole, is hard to describe with any word other than "luxurious".
Have you ever tried to carry one or more toddler car seats to a rental agent? Even The Rock would balk at that task.
In any event, I appreciate all your counterpoints, but I'd prefer to hear counterpoints from current/former Manhattan parents than a logician without on the ground experience.