In I’ll Take Manhattan we experience two different Manhattans from two different time periods in comedic dramas about characters who try to survive and make a home for themselves. The Squatters’ Project takes place in the 1970s, Lower East Side, when the city was on the verge of bankruptcy. Maximizd Space takes place from February 2020 through April 2020, when the city was plagued by COVID-19 and developers building unaffordable housing. Do the characters make it? Take a hint from comedic New York City maven, Fran Lebowitz who says, “No one can afford to live in New York, yet everyone can live in New York.” (Netflix’s Pretend It’s a City).