Have a hard time believing this is true in NYC proper.

Most of the housing stock in NYC are co-ops, which have fairly strict rules about renting out units. Condos are significantly more expensive to purchase, and there is pretty much nothing you can purchase right now that would yield positive cash flow given how pricey real estate is even with rents so high.

Airbnb is technically banned in NYC, and while I'm sure there continue to be illegal Airbnbs I don't see many listings myself that are for the entire unit as opposed to a room if it isn't a monthly rental.