What makes NYC relevant for black people? Unless you're wealthy, which almost every black person isn't in that city well removed from, NYC is prohibitively expensive and has one of the highest costs of living in the world - let alone in this country. It's extremely segregated, a division that is only widening thanks to gentrification that has displaced black families who can no longer afford to live in homes they've occupied for generations. Its streets are policed by a glorified gang of thugs whose sole job is to ensure that the wealthy white and non-black surrogate white elites are shielded by an increasingly impoverished black population. NYC is one of the worst cities to live in if you are black.