Not really. NYC population still hasn't fully recovered to the pre-covid peak: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/NYPOP
NYC is losing it's share of the global finance jobs as firms shift staffing to other, more desirable locations: https://pix11.com/news/local-news/nyc-job-market-loses-thous...
NYC rent being unaffordable is due to legislation that keeps apartments off of the market due to not being financially viable to repair to habitable standards in addition to legislation overly empowering local groups to block new construction.
It's not hard at all to compare property prices in NYC to Alabama using a cost of living index (and to some extent a quality of life index, though these are fairly subjective).
People are voting with their feet every day, and they largely aren't moving because they are looking for a decrease in their standard of living.
Many, many, many people think NYC, SF, Vancouver etc. are shitholes. The good news is that people are currently allowed to choose where their surroundings look like, though many politicians and bureaucrats seem hell-bent on changing that. And now we're back at the start of this discussion...
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Human-waste-shuts-dow...