Yes, but thankfully markets aren't completely free and the government sets a floor on the price of your labor and things like price gouging are illegal.

And if we all had to negotiate our salaries from a minimum wage it would be an epic waste of time for both employers and job-seekers, so what point are you actually making here?

I was quite directly saying that employers in creative spaces in NYC are taking advantage of salary information (or even labor law) inequality in order to exploit the people they hire. NYC has quite-rightly decided to make this illegal and is leveling the playing field somewhat.