We lived in midtown Manhattan for 5 years. To get to the interesting (non tourist trap) 'cultural events' usually took a subway, or for underserved areas, took taxi (via hail, and pay with Curb app) to a borough off Manhattan island. Return to midtown took Lyft/Uber. Commuting by car is an extraordinary waste of time with high opportunity cost unless you use a driver.

Yes, the mega events are at Lincoln Center, Broadway, the Met, but that's very much like saying cultural TV is only on ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX.