> I'll note too that I'm a bit skeptical of the $3000 / month charge for micro apartments; even in Williamsburg, new, conventional one-bedroom apartments were $3200 – $3,5000 / month last summer.

Yeah, that seems unlikely to fly. I was paying $1700/mo for my place, on the ground floor in Alphabet City (11th between B and C, specifically); not the most desirable place in Manhattan, but definitely not a cheap area.