My casual observation that drove that thought, which was admittedly off the cuff, is the people who really want to go back in-office are new grads who want to l

My casual observation that drove that thought, which was admittedly off the cuff, is the people who really want to go back in-office are new grads who want to live in an exciting city, and NYC is way more livable and exciting than SF. That urge to live and work in SF, instead of the suburban Valley, was part of the gravity that brought big companies back to the city 2010-2020. Secondary NY hubs seem to be doing much better than pre-2020, though to your points, making the leap to NY primary is a much higher bar.