Did he say you can’t find those things in New York? I read his point as generally Europeans value things like fresh bread and leisurely spending time in a cafe more than Americans. This is backed up by my own personal observations from the time I’ve spent in Europe.
He says everything he consumes in the US is of lower quality than in Europe. If high quality goods are available in the US then he is simply choosing to consume low quality goods.
Again, you may be right about what people broadly value, but he makes it personal as if he has no choice but to consume low quality garbage while in the US. I think he was being a bit hyperbolic. Perhaps he could have said it is more work for him to consume quality food/TV in the US because of what is easily available, popular, marketed etc..
I'll just add that I agree with almost all of your points here, but I'm still not sure I agree that the article was being hyperbolic, I think that "it is more work for him to consume quality food/TV in the US because of what is easily available, popular, marketed etc.." is essentially his point, e.g., the title is "Why Don't Americans Understand How Poor Their Lives Are?". Is that any different than asking "why is it so much work to have higher quality of life in the US?"?
