I'm not from NYC, or even the US, but unless I'm mistaken, if you can afford to store a car there in order to be able to drive around, then you can almost certainly afford to pay a congestion charge.
London has had a CC for a number of years now, and it isn't a problem at all. The overwhelming majority of people who travel into the areas affected by it just take public transport. Hell, I lived up there for several years and despite owning a car I never once had to pay to drive in the charge zone.
As a fat lad, I’d get maybe a year out of my trousers. But I’d probably get 20 years out of my t-shirts. I just had a clear out last weekend, and finally threw away a bunch of old t’s I don’t wear anymore, some of which were pushing 15 years old.