That is a very shortsighted blame-the-victim mentality. You're conflating the power of the individual voter with that of the entire voting bloc. Besides, even if new affordable housing was constructed (which is getting harder and harder in nyc as people are being pushed further and further out geographically), it's not easy to just up and move, even in nyc.
Sorry, I have no sympathy for "victims" who have all the power, and bring their misery on themselves. The voters have the power over their government, so if they don't like their government, it's their own fault. In the short term, sure, voters can be fleeced, and have to wait for the next election to choose someone else, but this kind of stuff isn't happening within election cycles, it's long-term.
As for "being pushed further and further out", that again is the voter's own fault for not voting better. They don't need to move farther out, they need to build more densely, and they don't do it. This is largely an American problem because for some reason, Americans associate dense residential areas with "slums" and think that only suburbs with McMansions with gigantic and useless lawns can possibly be "nice".
