No, I am not kidding. Note that I was speaking of a family of four, not a 'household' and today, not 1999. I can't find current figures broken down by family size for the city, but in 2004, in 2004 dollars, median family of four income in New York state was $67,564, in New Jersey it was $88,401, in Connecticut $88,276. census figures  So yes, I was off - 8,000 Euros is between a 1.3 and 1.9 median family of four income in the New York area, though searching more shows that in some cases families with up to 150% of local median size adjusted household income qualify for 'moderate income' status housing.  In any case I stand by the statement that it is absurd to consider 8,000 euros a month to be 'mega rich'. It's not even plain 'rich' around here, just standard upper middle class, which is nice but not quite the same thing.