It Was a Haven for New York Families. Now They Can’t Afford to Stay. NYT | Top Stories By: Winnie Hu and Stefanos Chen 19 December 2024 at 16:00 Families in Washington Heights are being pushed out by rising rents and costs, and New York City is losing its youngest demographic group. © Carolina Hidalgo for The New York TimesAs the cost of living climbs, parents like Caroline Fermin are finding it harder to raise children in Washington Heights, an Upper Manhattan neighborhood that has lost about half of its under-18 population since 2000.