lynn

what is it like for safety now, what should we be wary of? also, at night can we walk streets (obviously avoiding certain areas) but which ones? what is Times Sqaure like at night? Cheers

LizQ

Times Square at night is bustling with activity. Personally, I don't feel unsafe. Just exercise normal safety measures. Don't wear tons of expensive jewelry. Keep your purse close and hold on to it. Etc. Men should put their wallet in their front pocket or where they can easy detect it still being there.

xxx11

Look out for hoodlums, crooks and pick pockets. Many are dressed in suits and white collars. They occupy Wall Street area and corner, window offices in tall skyscrapers.
Be cautious of anyone selling certificates with Enron or Worldcom on them. They won't even get you a cup of cold coffee.

Times Square is bright at night. Lots of lights and billboards. You can find the on/off switch behind the Police command unit. It is red and round. For kicks, flip the lights on and off.

I would avoid dangerous areas.

Don't walk the streets, a cab will run you over. The sidewalks are a much smarter choice.

Don't walk on the subway's 3rd rail.

Seriously - if you stay in Manhattan you should be ok, anytime. Times Square is mostly only filled with tourists and is busy all times. Do what you feel comfortable with. Avoid all all the photo/camera stores as they are all rip offs.

flopmeister

from a native new yorker (albeit one now living in Denver) you can ride the train (what new yorkers call the subway) till midnight without a problem in manhattan. you can walk all streets. times square has become walt disney north, there's nothing to worry about but stay to the EAST (to the right if you're going uptown) of 8th avenue as it can get dicey at night west of there. avoid central park at night. best place to wander around at night is soho. on weekdays all the bridge and tunnel crowd go home and the strees are left to the locals. on weekends the streets are crowded down there (less so after 9/11). Be wary of visiting Manhattan only to see the "malling of america" in all the tourist trap places (like times square) and go instead to the meat packing district, chelsea, soho or even take the #4 or #5 train across the brooklyn bridge (or walk it from the city hall stop)and walk around downtown brooklyn -- brooklyn heights, montague street by the water and environs is really beautiful, too.

Ryan

xxx11, you are just downright misleading lynn. Everyone knows that every major Wall Street firm went to full time casual at least 2 years ago.

Lynn, NY has actually become one of the safest major cities, per capita. Violent crime against tourists is pretty rare. As long as you have no intention of strolling through areas like the South Bronx or Flatbush, Brooklyn, most areas are fairly safe and heavily trafficed tourist areas typically have a visible police presence.

However, even for those of who live here, a few streets smarts are needed to avoid petty theft. I never keep my wallet in my back pocket while on the subway. Woman should make sure their purse is in front of them, to prevent someone from opening the zipper. If you have a backpack, don't put valuables on the outside pockets.

al

No worries - New York City is still very safe and you shouldn't worry, although it's always wise to maintain a certain standoffishness just in case. In other words, just because it's safe doesn't mean all the natives are friendly.

xxx11

Sorry Ryan, you are soooooo right. So is it now be on the lookout for Dockers and non-white shirts? Before Enron collapsed, they wanted to branch out to pretzel vendors from Canal to 58th. Seems they figured out a way to shift revenue via cash businesses (NYC street vendors) in an unusual twist. For a period of time, pretzel prices were linked to Natural Gas futures. Enron hedged by shorting some stock in Beano. Now that they collapsed, pretzels remain at a stable price and are available where they used to be.