Crime in New York City

I have been living in Manhattan for the past four years now and I have not really witnessed a serious crime though a couple of years ago I did hear about the brutal rape and torture ordeal ordeal of a cousin's classmate in the Hamilton Heights section of the city. The incident( http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027586/posts)till date scares me. Most people say that New York City has cleaned up a lot after Giuliani but I guess like every large metropolis it has its fair share of crime. If you are planning to move to NYC and are currently looking for accommodation you should try and look for a doorman building( if you can afford it) for they seem to be relatively safer . However during these recessionary times even relatively safe neighborhoods like the Upper East Side have had their share of petty thefts and crime .

Crime is a major problem in the city. It is more prevalent in areas like the Bronx and Harlem. Many low-income single family people live there. If you go into neighborhoods in the Bronx, you will see drug dealing right on the street. Gangs are springing up and creating havoc in many neighborhoods. The police can do so much. I personally was attacked in the Bronx twice in a two week time frame. The best away to avoid becoming a victim is to know the areas and stay out of them. This way you can avoid becoming a victim.

According to the FBI, New York was the safest big US city in 2009. I live in Bushwick in the vicinity of low income housing projects and I've never had a problem or witnessed a violent crime. I do not take unnecessary risks, however, and I'm always careful and aware of my surroundings. I know people who have been robbed, and it can definitely happen anywhere in the city, but I would discourage tourists from visiting my neighborhood. I get weekly precinct crime reports emailed to me from EveryBlock.com and would recommend that anyone moving to the city check them out.

I second that, BroadwayBK, new York City really is an impressively safe city in recent years. I've also never had a single problem, and I hear about terrible incidents only very rarely. After a while living here, I think most people develop a way they walk with their ears and eyes wide open. There's just a different way New Yorkers move through the city, which is why you can spot a tourist by body language. (They don't have to be wearing a camera and a moneypouch, or conspicuously studying a map). The body language says, "Don't mess with me." I do hear of a whole lot of robberies and break-ins, and this isn't especially neighborhood-specific. Seems that good quality locks might be worth the investment. Are there really gangs, hhusted? I mean, are there more recently than there used to be?

@uraniumfish, gangs are springing up all over the nation. The day I was attacked the first time, a MTA employee was standing behind me. The attacker must of mistaken her for a cop and ran. When I turned to look, I found it was a lady with an MTA uniform on. She put her hand on my shoulder and asked if I was okay. I told her I was shaken up but okay. She told me there was an increase in gangs in the Bronx and Harlem in recently months. And the problem is getting worse instead of better.

I found this map of New York city homicides pretty interesting: http://projects.nytimes.com/crime/homicides/map

Honestly, if you are not poor and moving into the city then you won't have to worry too much about crime because there is no reason to go to the neighborhoods with a copious amount of crime. For example, a tourist would have no reason to go to Brownsville Brooklyn unless they some family there. STAY AWAY FROM BROWNSVILLE IT IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS!! unless you have family... but even then bring your vest with you.

Is it that bad, jaged?

Brownsville is not exactly a great neighborhood. Not for tourists for sure. Here's a recent story: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2009/01/03/2009-01-03_violent_deaths_and_robbery_statistics_ar.html And one from '08: http://nymag.com/news/features/crime/2008/42604/

Yeah, it sounds pretty bad from those articles. I've rarely had a reason to venture down there.

Brownsville and East New York are usually the 2 neighborhoods that start off new years day with homicides. Both are probably the most dangerous in the whole city.

I've lived in Brooklyn for a long time and never had a reason to visit either Brownsville or East New York.... Though I do visit the neighborhood west of Brownsville, Crown Heights, periodically. It's not bad, though I usually stay closer to Prospect Lefferts Gardens, which is actually really nice in comparison to those areas with high crime rates. I'm actually considering moving down there....

Crown Heights does have some seedy and sketchy parts still though. Some areas of Crown Heights are actually quite nice though. The closer you get to Utica Ave and East New York Ave the sketchier and grimier it gets.

I understand there are many places in Brooklyn and Queens where the area is so bad with gangs and drugs that you wouldn't even think about driving through it. I remember a friend of mine tell me he was in Queens, and was driving down some street. He ran into this neighborhood and the streets were nearly vacant. Hardly anyone was walking around. Grafitti was everywhere. He got so scared because of what he saw, he did not even stop at a red light. He took a chance and kept driving until he got out of that area. I am not sure the area because he did not tell me. But I do agree there are some places that are straight out dangerous to even step into.

Crime can happen anywhere, let's face it -- you just have to be more on your toes in the city, obviously because there's a bigger population (hence greater numerical chances). I love the city. It's great for those who get bored easily and want to always be on the go go go. :-)

@jaged Yeah, I guess the closer you get to Brownsville in Crown Heights the sketchier it gets. Though I have a friend who lives really about five blocks from Utica and go down there a lot; I've never had a problem. @Mayeg You are so right. And like I said before, NYC was the safest big city according to FBI stats last year....

As Mayeg said, crime can happen everywhere. You just have to be aware of your surroundings, keep on your toes, and prepare yourself in case of attack. I used to carry pepper spray when in the Bronx.

@Mayeg well said like every big city NYC has its fair share of crime you just have to need to be constantly aware of your surroundings and be vigilant so that you don't become a statistic. I recently raised a furor in my apartment building as the building authorities had allowed a scaffolding to come up right outside my bedroom window. This scaffolding was erected to facilitate repairs of a neighboring building but it made me paranoid and I made sure that it was wired with an alarm just in case anything happened.

Sometimes half the fight is just not walking around with "Victim" written all over your forehead. As for robberies and break-ins, I'm astonished how easily accessible the last couple of buildings I've lived in have been. Back doors that are rarely locked, and the cheapest, crappiest locks you could imagine on front doors. Surely a decent lock is worth a little financial investment?

I accidental ripped the door knob from the front door of my building recently when the key wouldn't come out of the lock. Obviously it was time for a replacement.

I think it would take between three to five seconds to break into each of the last three buildings I've lived...

The UES is generally safe, BUT there are a few cases of private-school kids being targeted for muggings. Not necessarily of the violent kind, more of the intimidation "GIVE ME YOUR IPOD" kind where the kid is scared enough to drop the gadget and run for his life! Given the number of schools in the area, there's a huge change wealthy middle-schoolers with the latest phones/ipods/etc will be coming home from school alone, and the uniforms can make them a bit of a target. That said, it's generally pretty safe, so I wouldn't worry excessively! I don't think I've ever knowingly been in a Dangerous Situation - New York is by and large a safe place as long as you exhibit basic street-smarts. You're more likely to get "robbed blind" by the insane real estate and cost of living than by muggers!

Ajadedidealist, you haven't lived in the Bronx. There are many neighborhoods there that are quite violent. I know because I lived there at one point. Right down the street from where I live now, there is a drug house. I least that is what a neighbor calls it. There are always cops around. I heard the city was going to tear the place down, but instead of doing that, they are just renovating it.