Safety: Lefferts St. between Rogers Nostrand

peanut12 · September 2008

My husband and I (30ish, expecting a baby) are thinking of moving to this area and I'm trying to get a feeling for how safe it is.

We've lived in Washington Heights (around 170th, which was fine safetywise, we thought,) Morningside Heights around 107th (fancy and very safe - we were priced out,) and Greenpoint (sort of dirty in places, but safe enough.)

I'd be interested in how people feel about basic safety issues:

1. Walking alone at night (say 11pm.) - this is something, I think to be generally avoided in many places, but what about as a couple? (I assume that it's safe to walk around during the day, of course.)

2. Robbery - this is a first floor apartment with garden access; should we be worried?

3. I like to run - usually at 7am or so, alone, and sometimes my husband and I like to go for a jog or walk in the evening. Is this begging for trouble?

4. How is it to ride a bike? Will we get smashed flat?

I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts about the area - I've read a lot of conflicting reports and it's hard to figure out what to believe.

I'd like to apologize in advance because I know this comes off as incredibly timid or country-mouseish. I know it's not the fanciest neighborhood, and I don't care about that at all (although it would be great if there were good places to buy produce nearby.) All I really care about is whether my family will be safe (within reason, for New York) and what kind of safety precautions you take.

halfpint · September 2008

I live about 10 blocks north of you and ride my bike all the time. Certainly, you have to be aware and careful but I've (luckily) had no problems. I do try to use streets with bike lanes rather than not (Bedford, Bergen, Vanderbilt) as I commute from CH to PS mostly.

I don't know any joggers personally but I think it should be all right. Do you jog on streets or are you planning to jog in the park? The park should definitely be okay. On the streets... well I don't really understand how people jog on the streets as some of these avenues are well-traveled/crowded. But that's a different story.

ntfool · September 2008

I too live roughly 10 blocks north of you, right on the other side of Eastern Pkwy. My wife and I have lived in the area for about 7 years (4 at our current location). We now have a two-year old, but before the little one was born, my wife and I would both, either individually or together, stumble home drunk from one of the local watering holes in Prospect Heights every now and again. Could've been 3:am or 3:pm, we've never been hassled. Never been mugged. Never had our place broken into.

I can't necessarily comment on where you are, in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, but the experience up near us has been that this is a tight, friendly, neighborly environment, with lots of folks who've been here their whole lives (community stability is a good thing). Sure, there's crime, and if you look hard enough, you won't have a problem finding it. But, for the most part, we've felt safe. Safe enough to raise our daughter here.

ugarte · September 2008

We're a few blocks south and two east of that block... and, again, no problems. Along Flatbush Ave, there are plenty of joggers and dog walker in the early morning.. and lots of foot traffic late at night. But I dunno about Nostrand. You might want to subscribe and post to the Lefferts yahoo group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lefferts/

There are more crown heights than PLG people on this board.

peanut12 · October 2008

Thanks everyone! Unfortunately, the apartment, although very nice, didn't have a single three-prong plug, except in the kitchen. Back to the drawing board.

whatchuwant · October 2008

That's too bad you passed it over- you could just buy converters for the outlets....

Hardly a deal breaker, IMO.

bluemagoo · October 2008

Subject: Re: Safety: Lefferts St. between Rogers & Nostrand

peanut12 wrote: My husband and I (30ish, expecting a baby) are thinking of moving to this area and I'm trying to get a feeling for how safe it is.

We've lived in Washington Heights (around 170th, which was fine safetywise, we thought,) Morningside Heights around 107th (fancy and very safe - we were priced out,) and Greenpoint (sort of dirty in places, but safe enough.)

I'd be interested in how people feel about basic safety issues:

Howdy,

My $.02 as a 58 year old white male lifetime Brooklyn resident would be to stay in Greenpoint if possible. I'm not sure if that Flatbush? area you are thinking of moving to is going through some gentrification but if I was a single I may give it a shot or young married with no kids on the horizon. Suggest you visit on a Friday or Saturday night after 10 PM to get a better idea. It would have been better to visit during the summer.

Other neighborhoods to checkout that are pretty safe IMHO are Marine Park, Gerritsen Beach, Midwood, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach, Bay Ridge, Sheepshead Bay, Brighton Beach, Bergen Beach, Mill Basin, Old Mill Basin & a good part of Flatlands. Some areas of Flatbush are OK but you need to check it out a bit more. Most of the areas I mentioned are from the view of a 58 yr old lifetime Brooklyn MWM resident so your mileage may vary depending on your demographic comfort level. FWIW my neighborhood of Old Mill Basin has gone through some pretty big demographic changes over the last 5 years or so but outside of feeling like I'm living in the middle of the rainbow coalition these days the quality of life hasn't changed much outside of some sporadic increases in calls to 311 for noise complaints.

Good Luck,
blueMagoo

Safety: Lefferts St. between Rogers Nostrand

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