midtown, to be precise. Housing in NY may be cheaper than DC, so that's a good thing. But other things are very expensive in NY. Auto insurance, health insurance employee component, food -- all those things are more expensive in NY than in other places. And then there is the city income tax...
I moved to NYC from Chicago with a 10% raise. I figure I ended up 10% worse off.
There are CPI indices for individual cities, but I don't know if they are really accurate in terms of the differential.
If you decide to come, BM me and I can give you ideas on affordable places to live with wards that will suit for family's needs.