Calling your own city the "Greatest" is like entering a humility contest, if you enter, you are disqualified. ;-)
As to the car thing, with flying so cheap and so much fun, and with visiting some of the other "Greatest" cities on the same trip, a car is transportation in and out, did not do much driving within the city, just from one side of the street to the other ahead of the tow truck.
Another great thing about NYC, Air Travel Hub--you can be quickly and cheaply get almost anywhere else, very many non stop.
Reminds me of the summers in Paris when I would walk into a travel agency on the corner and basically go where ever they had a good flight that week.
Got me to Morocco, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey and Prague.
Paris has a further advantage of good train service.
NY may become as in the words of Yogi Berra -- "No one goes there anymore because it is so crowded".
Regards, John