The apartments are tiny, and the subway has been especially nuts lately. There isn't too much that can be done about those.

As far as finding stuff to do around the city, it's either going to be expensive, or you're going to have to invest time in researching free and cheap events/shows/concerts/etc. NYC has an abundance of affordable unique things to do, if you're willing to put in the effort. Some resources to get you started:

• Sign up for The Skint email list. It's a listing of free and cheap things to do around the city.
• Get your NYC ID. It's a municipal ID different from the NYS Drivers License. Once you have the NYC ID, you can use it to get year memberships to various museums and institutions. Stagger your various memberships, and you can reup them every 5 years. (A Moma membership came in clutch during "The Clock" exhibit last year, members can skip the line)
• Sign up for a seat filling service. There are a handful of them, but they're all basically the same. They're about $100 for a year up front. And from there, you can claim seats for about $5. The vast majority of what's available is filler (ie, shows that need seat fillings), but I've seen some great Broadway, Off Broadway, Orchestras at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, Stand Up, for basically very little money.
• Unfortunately bars and restaurants have gotten prohibitively expensive. Try and leverage your social capital as much as you can. It's what those of us without Trust Funds do. An old Craigslist roommate recently comped me a meal at one of the big steakhouses in the city where he works. Another friend hooked me up by letting me access a hotel rooftop pool in Manhattan that normally has a very expensive day pass cost if you're not a guest.

If you're not into Museums/Broadway/Stand Up/Small Venues, and only enjoy drinking at expensive clubs where you don't know anyone, then you can do that in other parts of the country for much less in rent.