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NYC is experimenting with new apartment buildings with units of 300 sq. ft. Actually not all that small by city standards, but a departure from the old rule that new units must be at least 400 sq. ft.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/sto ... 56117852/1

This is a silly answer. There is plenty of space to build up, especially in upper Manhattan, where there is a lot of unused space.
The myth of crowded Manhattan is just that--a myth. If you compare NYC to just about any metropolitan area in the world outside of America--especially in south Asian, Korea, and Japan--you see that New York is pretty damn spacious.
My wife and I live quite happily in a place that's about 450 sq. ft. I think the extra 100 sq. ft. would be a problem. We did stay in a 300 sq. ft. apartment for 3 months once--there is a limit to how low you can go.

I'm in 350ish now. It's plenty for me, but it's got a murphy bed that I fold up on the rare occasion I have guests. Even when I lived in a bigger house w/ roommates, I was basically either in bed or on the couch. No need for more.
On the other hand, I have almost year-round access to the great outdoors. There aren't snowy months when I could potentially get cabin fever.
This may very well mesh with the NYC "central park is my back yard and the coffee shop is my den" mentality.
It also helps that I have a pretty nice office at work so I don't really feel the need for the whole "second bedroom as office" thing. The office kitchen is bigger than my entire studio, I think. And the coffee is free.

>>you see that New York is pretty damn spacious.

@secretwealth--you've been in Manhattan too long If you compare it to Tokyo or Hong Kong then yes, Manhattan has a little room to grow. If you compare it to the rest of the planet, I wouldn't call it spacious.
I don't mind small living spaces, but I would need regular access to sunlight and nature. I would enjoy living in a small boat or my van. I could also see living in a tiny apartment in a city like Vancouver with lots of green space nearby.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/reale ... d=all&_r=2

There is something going on in San Francisco as well with regard to smaller apartments: http://sfpublicpress.org/news/2012-09/s ... apartments

Those smaller apartments are still ridiculously expensive. If you want to have any chance of affording living in NYC, my advice is stay out of Manhattan.

Harlem is cheap and in Manhattan.