After our co-founder Alicia’s unfortunate encounters with the problems of muggings in NYC, we found it very appropriate to collect some data to figure out which neighborhoods in NYC were the safest and the most dangerous to live in.
If you’re looking for a place to stay (or avoid) in the heart of America, you’re probably going to need this information. Here’s the data from DNAInfo’s Crime and Safety Report on the crime rate of neighborhoods in New York City, complete with our informative, humorous (or so we’d like to think), and often off-topic analysis.
But first, some hilarious stock photos of people getting robbed:
Is he robbing her, or is she swinging him around in a circle?
Imagine showing up as the actors for this photoshoot. "You want me to do what?"
And this guy is trying to hold up....a computer. Either the photographers were just shit out of ideas, or it's some joke about robbing an online bank.
The 5 Safest Neighborhoods in NYC
- 1. Great Kills & Tottenville
- 2. New Dorp & South Beach
- 3. Kensington & Borough Park
- 4. Bensonhurst
- 5. Sheepshead Bay
Great Kills Marina. No wonder it's the safest. Everyone lives on a boat.
Overall Trends
In general, New York City is doing pretty splendid in terms of historical trends. Since the 1990s, overall crime has dropped by 75%, marking the biggest improvement of a North American city in crime-fighting (due primarily to Batman). As compared to the previous year, however, crime also dropped by 1.5%, but at the expense of more specific categories: robberies rose by 15%, murders rose by 13.8%, and rapes jumped up 13.9%. So if you’re on one of these neighborhoods below, keep an eye out:
Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in NYC
- 65. Flatiron
- 66. Brownsville
- 67. Hunts Point
- 68. Greenwich Village
- 69. Midtown
Yup, every single one. Even that 10-year old in the upper left.
However, there are some extenuating circumstances to explain these results. Greenwich Village, because of its high cost of living and upscale neighborhoods, actually attracts a high amount of property crime: the rate of home robberies in the Village is over twice as high as NYC’s average. Midtown’s results, on the other hand, can be explained by the high proportion of tourists that pass through there every day, offering an easy target to pickpockets and muggers at night. Furthermore, though millions pass through Midtown every day, it only contains about 100,000 residents, vastly increasing its crime rate and shooting it to the bottom of our list. I wouldn’t take this as a sign to avoid any of these neighborhoods, but I’d certainly be more careful.
Other Notable Neighborhoods
- 9. Flushing
Flushing is essentially a rapidly growing Chinatown located on the outskirts of Queens; similar to Manhattan’s Chinatown, but without the crime. This statistic is both surprising and encouraging for the growth of Queens, which earned 9 out of the top 20 safest neighborhoods in NYC. Also, I live here. Feels good knowing I won’t be assaulted by cocaine dealers at night. (We’re looking at you, Midtown.)
Washington Heights is also notable for rebounding from a nasty stretch in the 80s where it was generally known as the place to find alcohol, illegal drugs, and prostitutes. These days, it’s safer than not only the majority of the Bronx, but even some of the most upscale neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn, such as 41. Park Slope and 61. Chelsea.
In the South Bronx, Morris Heights is doing extremely well given its past history and, well, its location in the South Bronx. It beats all but four neighborhoods in Manhattan, a surprising feat.
- 63. Downtown
Aw, hell no. I didn't do nuthin'. -Direct quote from Drake.
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