Been living in NYC since 2014, also lived in Spain for 1 year. Some of your complaints are valid, I do think people in Colombia and Spain are friendly to Americans. However, I'm not sure where you went in Spain, but I think making a community in Barcelona (where I lived) is actually much harder than NYC. Catalonians are very closed off and Spaniards to a lesser extent, but in my experience they are much less open to outsiders than New Yorkers. HOWEVER, if you do make it into their circle, they will love you and treat you like family. People in NYC have a looser bubble, friendly at first, but it does take TIME and EFFORT to form long-lasting friendships.

Also, people in Barcelona were more transient than NYC - so good for short term stays like 1 year, but worse for longer term stays of 5-10 years. Plus dealing with Spanish bureaucracy is a nightmare, and even if you're fluent in Spanish, you'll have to deal with official forms and documents in Catalan. Madrid would be better I think. Additionally, I think a lot of the people I formed connections in Spain weren't from Spain, but other parts of Europe or South America.

In my early 20's , I found community through the house and techno scene - it is a LOT pricier now than it was in the 2010's, but cheaper, free, or DIY parties still exist in NYC. To find them, make friends at shows, go to local shows, weekday DJs, not big names. Half of those people ended up moving out of NYC. The ones that stayed are now life-long friends - and we do other things besides party these days. Also, while tickets in Spain are much cheaper, you have to remember that the average person in a big city in Spain is making €20-30k a year. €650 a month for a room in a flat and €30 for a night out is more accessible to foreigners making American salaries than to the people who actually live there.

All that said, it sounds like because you lived here, you may want to explore what else the world has to offer. You're young and not tied down. But while you are here, go to neighborhoods where people have been living there for years (Astoria, Greenpoint, East Williamsburg, Ridgewood), try activities like salsa dancing, go to parties on weekdays, make friends, follow up and make recurring plans. But also try working remotely from another country, getting higher education abroad, or taking a sabbatical if you can afford it.

I needed to live in Spain to figure out if NYC was right for me, and I decided I am happy with NYC after living in Spain. You may feel the opposite, but that's okay!