If your kid gets in a top ranked private school on your 60k income, the school will help you find a way to pay. The average financial aid package (about 30% get financial aid at these two schools) at Pingry and Lawrenceville is like 38k, nearly enough to cover all expenses. These are NJ boarding schools.
The top NYC private schools are more expensive (42k+ other expenses) give financial aid packages quite liberally. Chances are you qualify for something even with quarter a mil a year income. There will still be 10~20k that you need to cover but that pretty much makes 80~100k the sweet spot for starting to think about applying to such schools, lower if you have a particularly bright kid (basically 98+ percentile on SHSAT) that can ask for more generous aid package.
Bear in mind I am talking about top schools with endowments and ability to disburse financial aid. Second tier schools (unless religiously affiliated) won't be so affordable.
PS: I have lived in NYC and its surrounding suburbs for 20+ years. I know the prices around here, both on the high end and low end. Riverman is confusing "Manhattan" with "NYC".
EDIT: Horace Mann, one of the top schools in NYC with its financial aid disbursement profiles:
http://www.horacemann.org/uploaded/H...A_Slides_1.pdf
http://www.horacemann.org/uploaded/H.../FA_Slides.pdf
http://www.horacemann.org/uploaded/H...1_original.pdf
Last edited by grizy; 07-14-2014 at 07:29 PM.