Unfortunately right now is the most expensive the renting market has ever been (after it was the lowest it's ever been 1.5 years ago). Things are slowly cooling.
NYC in general is expensive (11$ chipotle burrito), but the wages are also crazy. For an entry level, 0-2 year experience programmer at a C level startup, you're easily looking at 100k+ salary. Outside of work, NYC is fun because you can pretty much think of anything you want to do tonight/tomorrow, and you'll have multiple options. Manhattan gets less noisy the further from the middle you get. I would recommend upper west side, upper east side, or hell's kitchen to live in Manhattan on a noise to cost to safety balance.
The optimal way would be to move into a 1 bedroom with a significant other and split the rent 50/50