How dangerous is New York?

esmits

A lot of the time, I see some posts here that criticize people for moving to New York and and not knowing what they are getting themselves into. Branded as naive, and from the 'burbs, anyone who moves to New York from somewhere else can expect to get a "I told you so" vibe from some people whenever they comment, or complain, about being mugged, harassed, or accosted.
But, how dangerous is New York? I've lived here for almost six years and I've never felt safer anywhere else. There seems to be some validity to my feelings, here in the article on CNN.com:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/11/21/camden.crime.ap/index.html

New York is among one of the safest cities in the country (my hometown among one of the worst).
Now, I'm well aware that New York has changed a lot over recent years, and you won't find me walking around at night in every neighborhood in Brooklyn. But how much longer can New Yorkers hold water to their rough and tumble attitude? When is big, bad New York, just big?

esmits

Ooopsie.
I just realized that I was confused in the article, and new York city isn't listed as one of the safest cities (it is some other city in New York).
But, I still think the topic is worth debating...

whyfi

I think that, per capita, New York certainly is safe... I just think that the density, the closeness of everything, gives the impression of a lack of safety to some. Sure, a guy got shot 4 blocks away, but how many thousands of people were between you and that guy?! Someone gets mugged a block away from your home in MN, you probably know the guy by name. Someone gets mugged a block away from you in NYC, you may have never seen the guy before.

flute

nybt wrote: I think that, per capita, New York certainly is safe

I agree. I don't think NYC is any more or less dangerous than any other part of the country. In fact, when you think about it, some of the most gruesome crimes in the US over the past few years have occurred OUTSIDE of major metropolitan areas. NYC does not have a monopoly on crime. Far from it. (And by the way, where are all the crystal meth labs popping up ... ??? just asking).

I feel that, to a certain extent, the closeness, or proximity, required of people living in the city requires a heightened level of civility. It's my experience that people who grew up in NYC (any borough, any social strata, any racial denomination) generally have far better manners, more respect for small circle or cushion of privacy that we all need and require, than people coming from suburbia who bring with them odd stereotypical images, inappropriate and more macho than thou attitudes toward the people who live here.

teddyballgame

don't quote me on this, but i'm pretty sure New York is the safest city of its size in the world.

flute

teddyballgame wrote: don't quote me on this, but i'm pretty sure New York is the safest city of its size in the world.

That's what I recall as well. If not THE safest but certainly in the top ten. But I could be wrong.

oiseau

I've been here ten years without a crime commit against me. Of course, I look like a cop, which helps.

vanilla

my friends in other cities like boston, providence, portland.. they all seem to get robbed and mugged more than my friends in nyc, or smashed over the head with baseball bats or something dumb.

the only exception is **bike theft** in nyc is WAY worse.

qtrain

This is slightly old data (2002), but Brooklyn Crime Statistics, North and South. For comparison, murder rate is ~3x lower than Oakland, CA (2003), but population density is ~5x higher. nybt makes a good point, I think; despite low crime rates, you certainly feel exposed to crime in New York.

stacey

Oiseau wrote: I've been here ten years without a crime commit against me. Of course, I look like a cop, which helps.

Really with your straw hat you reminded more of a "Rat Packer" type

teddyballgame

I lived in DC for four years, and trust me- way worse than NY. I got mugged by two guys with knives right outside my house. Several of my friends got robbed at gunpoint at a saturday afternoon barbecue. Another of my friends got pistol whipped on her front lawn in a really nice neighborhood because she wasn't, apparently, carrying enough cash. Another time I saw a stabbing outside a bar I was at, and I also witnessed a few of what I believe were MS 13 initiations (beatdowns). Knock on wood, but I haven't seen any of that stuff in my three months here.

kate

teddyballgame wrote: I lived in DC for four years, and trust me- way worse than NY. I got mugged by two guys with knives right outside my house. Several of my friends got robbed at gunpoint at a saturday afternoon barbecue. Another of my friends got pistol whipped on her front lawn in a really nice neighborhood because she wasn't, apparently, carrying enough cash. Another time I saw a stabbing outside a bar I was at, and I also witnessed a few of what I believe were MS 13 initiations (beatdowns). Knock on wood, but I haven't seen any of that stuff in my three months here.

I second DC, I was slapped around by a crack head who stole $9 which was all I had and I was attacked by a crazy homeless person for no apparent reason at all.

teddyballgame

I looked it up... in terms of per capita crime, New York has the lowest crime rate of the US' 10 biggest cities, and the 221st lowest crime rate of the country's 240 biggest cities, as of 2004.

As for the world, it's harder to find data, but it seems that both New York and Tokyo lay claim to the title "Safest Big City in the World," and that london is making an effort... I wonder if there are statistics out there- per capita crime in cities of 5 million or more...

smokin joe

i've been in the ph for 11 years. in that time, my wife was mugged once, i was held up at gunpoint in broad daylight, our car windows have been smashed repeatedly, a guy was beaten up in front of our house, and someone tried to break into our house once. that's just off the top of my head.

nyc may be safe statistically, per capita or something, but unfortunately, i think that's in spite of prospect heights, not because of it.

teddyballgame

Smokin' Joe wrote: i've been in the ph for 11 years. in that time, my wife was mugged once, i was held up at gunpoint in broad daylight, our car windows have been smashed repeatedly, a guy was beaten up in front of our house, and someone tried to break into our house once. that's just off the top of my head.

nyc may be safe statistically, per capita or something, but unfortunately, i think that's in spite of prospect heights, not because of it.

perhaps a good point... how much of that stuff happened in like the last 5 years? Statistically, New York is getting safer, but I wonder if PH is too...

stacey

Smokin' Joe wrote: i've been in the ph for 11 years. in that time, my wife was mugged once, i was held up at gunpoint in broad daylight, our car windows have been smashed repeatedly, a guy was beaten up in front of our house, and someone tried to break into our house once. that's just off the top of my head.

nyc may be safe statistically, per capita or something, but unfortunately, i think that's in spite of prospect heights, not because of it.

Wow sorry to hear about your unfortunate events. I have lived here (Brooklyn) all my life and [knock wood] the worst that has happened to me was that my car was stolen (twice) but it was stolen in Boro Park not PH. I think it is MUCH safer now than in the years that I can remember.

smokin joe

teddyballgame wrote: how much of that stuff happened in like the last 5 years?

some recent, some not. and all anecdotal. but then so was the new zealand guy who was robbed of his i-pod a couple of weeks ago and the woman who was followed from an atm down park place recently and robbed at knifepoint.

this neighborhood still seems dicey, if you ask me. i do have the sense that things have improved somewhat, but can't prove that either.

vanilla

my friends in philly were mugged in their own living room by some guys who busted in with sawed of shotguns...

PH is seems SO safe to me!

teddyballgame

I think anyplace where you have a lot of people, there's going to be crime, and obviously PH is no exception. I just maintain that compared to a lot of other places in other cities, it's pretty reasonable. Obviously just one man's opinion, but I challenge anyone to go live in DC for a while, even in like the nicest areas, and tell me that the crime here is worse. For christ's sake, the mayor smoked crack and they reelected him!

captain m

I was getting out of the subway yesterday at brooklyn college to take an exam and I just missed a shooting. @ bystanders were shot.

You can use statistics to show new york is "safe", but I think its just playing the lottery compared to cities like DC which are very segregated and crime is generally higher in one area over another which statistically makes it seem less-safe but is really safer.

rockhound

When I moved to Lincoln near Underhill in 1977 it was called the "Wild Wild Wild West" . In fact this was scrawled on the corner building at Underhill and the block certainly lived up to its name.

During the crack wars (1983-90 appx) I heard plenty of shots fired in anger and saw teenagers lying in the street in pools of blood .. yes plural on the teenagers..Some ended up paralyzed in wheelchairs. Others, dead.

Nowadays the biggest affront on the block is aesthetic, noise and loud mouth people, etc. And property crimes against cars. I've actually seen a teenager bash car windows with a baseball bat on St Johns just for the helluvit. Yeah I called the cops on his skanky ass, but they didn't seem too concerned, even though I knew where the kid lived and would have gladly helped put his ass in jail for being so damn stupid.

Cars in general are endangered here. My son had his maxima stolen in Dec 03. And just last week, I saw a freaking car up on bricks with the wheels stolen, at Lincoln & Underhill, a relatively busy spot. I never saw anything like that in years and years. Every one who saw this stopped to stare in amazement. You could tell the bricks had come from Eastern Parkway. It was crazy. :shock: :evil:

You know I would have said this block and PH in general was improving after the buddy boys of 77 cleaned up their act and cleaned out the drug clans during the TNT ops in 1989. But for some reason, in the mid 1990s the city decided to move a whole load of homeless families and their problems and kids into a huge renovated building next door to mine on Lincoln.

The city should have done an environmental impact statement before moving all of those families at once into the building we called the "haunted mansion" because crackheads used to squat there and set apartments on fire in the 80s.

We are still feeling the residual effects of this poor decision as the kids have grown up to become bored and sullen teens hanging around at all hours at nights, big mobs of them clashing in gang like street battles and so forth. Police cars are still a frequent sight at the haunted mansion of Lincoln Place.

Yet the white people continue to flock to the neighbourhood, go figure! It really is fascinating isn't it. What a volatile mix! :?

anonymous

It's all anecdotal. I have lived in the neighborhood for five years and never had a problem. I don't like blaming victims, but it does seem like some people carry a cloud of bad events with them.

devincf

oops, that was me.