For me Roosevelt Avenue in Queens between Jackson Heights and Junction Blvd on a 80F day is the real NYC. People of every ethnicity on the street, everyone in the shade of the elevated 7 train, street vendors selling everything and thousands of people strolling along.

Rents are cheap here but it is not glamorous and in some areas even borderline dangerous (around Corona, especially at night). People in Manhattan and trendy parts of Brooklyn don't realize it but they're paying high rents for safety. Gentrification brings police protection and in my area of Queens you're not going to see cops on that dark corner at 1AM like you would in Williamsburg.

There are many neighborhoods in The Bronx and Brooklyn that are still like this but people don't feel comfortable living there.