I am in no position to talk about how to make money, but in NYC you definitely do not need a car at all.
In general, apartment buildings in NYC requires one of the following:
1) 40x rent (all occupants combined, meaning you can add your roommates' income)
2) 1m liquid assets
3) guarantor that makes 80x rent
4) guarantor with 2m liquid assets
5) surety insurance
6) prepay full year rent
Note that option 6) is no longer allowed by NYC government, so 5) is very popular now.