  New Yorkers do not like to believe they could learn anything
from California, but perhaps in this one case they might try.
Not long ago, I was in New York City looking at co-ops, talking
with recent buyers, would-be buyers, brokers. The conversation
is eerily familiar. Listen to the buyers: ''Of course, we'll
take two extra jobs and avoid having kids to buy this studio
apartment facing an airshaft for $150,000. Next year, it'll be
$250,000.'' And the brokers: ''Of course, there aren't many
Americans who can afford to buy here any longer. But there will
always be rich foreigners. New York is the most exciting city in
the world. New York is unique, and two bedrooms on the West Side
should cost half a million dollars.''  Do not believe it. Trees
do not grow to the sky, and the great New York co- op boom will
eventually go the way of the great L.A. bubble. Yes, New York
apartments were underpriced for years. Yes, New York is an
exciting place. Yes, there are a lot of rich people who like New
York. Yes an