What am I missing in the NYC Rent vs Buy Equation

I see a number of 2 family homes available in Queens and Brooklyn for about 1-1.5million. This gives me at least 2 bedrooms and a tiny yard. Not to mention the stability of a purchase and locked in expenses.

Compare that to 1-bedrooms that are anywhere from 2k and up. 2-bedrooms are more like 4k and higher.

I can understand the condo fee, but I am comparing only with houses and not condos.

Why is it that the prices seem more affordable for houses compared to rental apartments?

Are there hidden costs that I am not thinking of that are specific to NYC? Or is it simply that NY'ers are a transient population and do not want to enter into long term commitments?

Edit: Thank you all for taking the time to respond. I believe the key things I was missing are: property taxes, proximity to transit.
And of course the fact that 1.5m starter homes are not affordable. My bad. I was skewed in my thinking as someone who is closer to retirement than someone in their 20s or 30s. Sometime at that life stage is likely sharing their rent with roommate(s), which also changes the equation drastically. Thank you.