No-go areas in New York?
 

I am travelling to the US in September and will be meeting up with my granddaughter who if flying in from London. Neither of us have been to the Big Apple before and while we are excited about exploring the city I am a little concerned about booking accommodation in a "save area". I know NY has had a "zero tolerance" policy for sometime and it is considered safe to stay and explore much of the city but I do feel responsible for my granddaughter. We will be exercising common sense about personal safety as you would when travelling in any big city but would appreciate knowing any areas considered unsafe to stay.
Jenny62

NYC is the safest big city in the US. And although no one can assure another's safety, I assume you will be in the standard tourists areas which are exceedingly safe.

Since this is your first trip to NYC, and you will want to be someplace easy to get around, and convenient to shops, restaurants and sights, I would suggest you look for accomodations in mid-town or down-town areas on Manhattan Island, itself. (Street-wise, you'll want to stay someplace between 32nd St(to the South) and 59th (to the North). There are plenty of "safe" areas elsewhere, but that should keep you within easy distance of just about anyplace you want to visit in the city...for example you could go further South, as "the Village" and "Soho" (meaning South of Houston St) are fun places, and perfectly safe. You will find public transportation easy to use and if you are "walkers" the city is laid out in a simple grid that is easy to understand.

I've lived in NYC, worked there, visited on business after moving from there, and more recently, visited my daughter who has lived in practically every borough of the city. The last couple of years she's lived up near the Cloisters museum, which I find is a terrific neighborhood -- but it is quite a distance to places you will, I assume, be visiting so I suggest you would be happier more "mid" and "down" town.

There are HUNDREDS of hotels to choose from, and not knowing your price point, or exactly what you want from a hotel, I'll not make any specific recommendations.

Please call "New York" New York City or Manhattan. Whenever I see "New York" I think New York State.

If you want advice on where to stay, I think it would be a good idea for you to tell us what you want to do whilst in Manhattan. Broadway, Lincoln Center, clothes shopping, museums, art galleries, shopping for knock-offs???????

Thin

what about the west village - is that area nice? is it safe to walk around at night?
i think we'd like to stay in an area where there's always people around so maybe midtown might be better or not really?

It's true that NYC is the safest large city in the nation. It's also true that there are areas (like Times Square) where there is more petty crime (pickpocketing etc) against tourists. This is likely in any area mobbed by tourists and with people packing the pavements - but you're still very unlikely to be a victim unless you're careless.

Any tourist area in NYC is safe. There are some areas where I would not reco tourists go - and I wouldn't go myself - but they are a few purely residential areas in the outer boroughs (NOT Manhattan) and not places a tourist would go anyway.

Naturally, as in any other city, one does not wander down dark alleys - or hang out around the docks - or wander into the woods of Central Park - alone in the middle of the night. (But if there's a special event in Central Park at night it will be mobbed and perfectly safe until a reasonable hour.)

(Some people are confused by Central Park because they are thinking of a small city park - that is manicured lawns, paved walks with benches and ornamental shrubs. Central Park has a lot of the above - but it also has a large resevoir, a large lake, a bunch of athletic fields, a zoo, a theater and several large areas that are hilly and heavily wooded. And it's big - larger than the country of Monaco.)

As for hotels - agree you need to tell us what your budget is and what you plan on doing. And while there are certainly some hotels that are quite unpleasant that you wouldn't want to stay in - all of the tourist hotel areas are perfectly safe.

The West Village is one of the most beautiful residential areas in the City where the rich have converted a number of townhouses into single family dwellings. There are also commerical thorougfares as well.

Midtown is primarily a business area - so in much of it the streets aren;t that busy at night - except in the theater district. Generally there is more street life in the residential areas - with lots of stores open, tons of restaurants, many with sidewalk cafes. You will find much more of that in the Village and on the upper east/west sides than in midtowm - unless you go to the very far east - or in some places west residential areas.

NYC is extremely safe. If you'd like help selecting a hotel, it would be helpful to tell us when in Sept. you're coming, your nightly budget, your preferences for hotels (ie big/small, independents vs. big chains, trendy vs. traditional etc.) If you are coming before the 7th, there are some great sales on travelzoo.com and quikbook.com is a good website for pricing and not having to pay upfront.

If you want a place with a kitchen, there are quite a few apt/hotels. Avoid looking at private apartments since there are a lot of scams online for these.

"Please call "New York" New York City or Manhattan. Whenever I see "New York" I think New York State."

But whatever you do, don't call it the Big Apple.

(and don't shop for knockoffs)

PAH.

If you're from New York City, then you call it New York. For many people in the other boroughs, Manhattan is "the City."

Nassau and Suffolk counties are "The Island."

Everything else is "upstate."

And unless you're going to East New York, Jamaica, Brownsville, Ocean Hill, Washington Heights, or other known urban pits in the City, you won't be in an "unsafe" area. This isn't the 1970s. Everyone who said above that NYC is the safest big city in the country is dead-on accurate.

As tourists you'll be in midtown, downtown or one of the "upper" sides of Manhattan, each of which is safe. You'll go to sights in Manhattan, in all likelihood. You will shop in Manhattan. You won't rent a car and you won't take a train out to the other boroughs. You should be fine.

East New York, Jamaica, Brownsville, Ocean Hill, Washington Heights - yes - tourists, by and large, just have no need to visit those areas. But to designate them as "unsafe" is a bit beyond the realities of today. This town has changed quite a bit in the past 10 years or so - and I'd venture to note that those areas are just as safe as others if you happen to have some business there. And I am noting that remarks such as that are an obtuse kind of racism - and we just don;t need that stuff. And - to note some realities - a good friend of ours was driving thrugh one of those areas and she had some sort of mechanical trouble - flat or something like that. The locals very graciously helped her to get going again. Try that on the Upper East Side.

we plan to go to Astoria, Queens and visit my great aunt...surely thats a safe train ride haha
we might even head out to Jersey to say hello to my mum's cousins...

For all you crime fans and worry warts, here is a map which appeared in the NY Times last Friday. which shows where murders took place in the City since 2003.

http://projects.nytimes.com/crime/homicides/map

eeekkk! thats horrible haha

I agree with JRoth. I cannot think of one area within the 5 boroughs that I would have a problem visiting and walking around.

Washington Heights is an "urban pit?" What an ignorant comment! I certainly will not mention this to my friends who live there! There may not be a reason for me to visit every single area, but you can bet that if I heard about an interesting restaurant, for example, in Brownsville, I would be there very soon!


NY has changed SO much in the last two decades! This is not to say that there is no crime, but I think it highly unlikely that a tourist will be victimized unless they do something really dumb. Probably more likely to be the victim of theft from the hotel room.

Adu,

Interesting graphic. It's useful only if you slide the bar over to 2009, however. As mentioned, the city has changed dramatically in the last 10 years.

I think the only tourist on the map to be murdered was 55 year old male who accidentally wandered into Mamma Mia.

jroth, I suggest you keep your foolish accusations of racism to yourself. The level of crime and terrible conditions of the areas I named are well-known regardless of who lives there (and each is actually a polyglot area). Please don't debase your commentary with unfounded accusations that are neither useful nor knowledgeable.

ekscrunchy, Washington Heights is an urban pit and not. You are 1/2 right, as was I. There are large swathes of the neighborhood, especially along the Hudson, that are exceedingly nice. Places closer to GW high school are decidedly less so.

This is a difficulty with naming bad areas in NYC -- most have very safe or very nice enclaves or destinations too, much like the Oak Cliff area of Dallas. After all, Peter Lugar restaurant was famously in a (formerly) bad area of Williamsburg but is a destination dining experience for New Yorkers and tourists.

Actually, I think your clarifications only further substantiate the charge of obtuse racism since the demographics of those on the Hudson is markedly different from the rest of Washington Heights; same as the crowd that "famously" moved in to "formerly" bad Williamsburg.

I think a tourist is actually more likely to be the victim of a pickpocket in Times Square, than Jamaica, Queens but realizing Time Square is the draw and not Queens, most have tailored their advice keeping that in mind. In this instance, seems it is your slightly hostile advice that is neither useful nor knowledgeable.

Interesting graphic. It's useful only if you slide the bar over to 2009, however. As mentioned, the city has changed dramatically in the last 10 years.

Murder has consistenly been under 600 since 2003. If you look at the 1980's and early 1990's where people's impressiions for crime in NY seem be frozen,homicides where in the 2,000 a year range.

TG, your comment is no more helpful nor informed than jroth's. If you or anyone else wishes to be direct in your libels toward me, please do so. Otherwise, keep your "obtuse racism" nonsense to yourself because it is merely a shibboleth and a meaningless label on my specific comments that is meant to do no more than insult.

My clarifications do not "substantiate the charge of obtuse racism" and your commentary only demonstrates your ignorance. Bed-Stuy, Ocean Hill, Brownsville, Washington Heights, Jamaica and other "bad" areas all have, as I said above, MULTIETHNIC communities (that's what polyglot means). It is nearly impossible in New York City to have communities completely segregated by race or ethnicity because of the nature of the city's demographics. Yet YOU and jroth seem to associate them with a particular race or races.

You have now demonstrated why no one can even discuss troubled inner-city areas in this country -- because even if the areas are multi-ethnic and multi-racial, which the ones I referenced are, someone will STILL accuse the person bringing up the subject of being a racist.

Perhaps instead of looking at the races or ethnicities of people who live in the neighborhoods I mentioned, you should want to look at the income levels and socioeconomic data and crime statistics, each of which will more accurately paint a picture of an area than the simpler pallette from which you and jroth paint.

My advice was simple and not hostile: tourists who will stay in Manhattan and not travel to bad areas like the ones I named, will be relatively safe from violent crime. In the context of the largest city in the United States, with a collective American memory of how NYC used to be, the level of "safety" in the city is nothing short of remarkable. Those who wish to sightsee in more dangerous areas (and NYC has easily accessible crime stats on the web that clearly demonstrate the crime dropoffs since 1990) have assumed the risk.

Russ - it is classically well known that those who invoke some sort of racist comment always insist that there is nothing racist about their statements. You clearly designated certain areas of this city as "unsafe" for visitors and (as I am sure you are aware) those areas are by and large inhabited by minority groups. And if you look at the crime statistics involved they generally are family incidents or between people who know each other - not casual visitors to the area. Years ago I had assignments in several of the areas you mention - I never felt unsafe - but rather experienced friendly attitudes. BTW - I just took a walk in Carl Schurz Park - Upper East Side in the 80's - there was a poster there warning about a predator mugger in the area with a mug shot asking if anyone can identify him. We do our city a disservice when we spread word about certain "unsafe areas". That said - hey - I wouldn't walk in Central Park after dark.

Jroth, I neither made nor invoked a "racist" comment, nor did I encourage the epithet, you offered the epithet and you are wrong. Until and unless you know me, know my attitudes, my family, my background, my outlook, etc., you have neither any call nor basis for labeling and libeling me in the manner in which you did.

As for what you say about the nature of the crimes, that is entirely true. And I know full well the number of times I walked through the Gowanus projects (see Clockers, the movie) without incident when New York was not as safe as it is today. But that was not an advisable trip for a tourist.

Wow. I started a point-by-point rebuttal and realized I possess the ability but neither the time nor desire to follow on this faraway tangent.

My very valid and simple point: it is unlikely that the OP is likely to find many hotel deals in Bed-Stuy of which she need be wary, or find herself and her granddaughter accidentally wandering off into Brownsville, so it seems inflammatory and unnecessary to warn of the dangers lurking in these neighborhoods. Furthermore it seems a little insensitive (to perhaps even fellow Fodorites right here on the board) to refer to their neighborhoods as pits.

I think the OP disappeared

I have to step in on Washington Heights. Yes, there are some blocks that are still gritty. But northern Manhattan is rapidly gentifying and I wouldn't hesitate to visit tourist spots there.

(When I bought an apartment on west 94th St people told me it was way too dangerous (and there were drug dealers on the corners in the middle of the night for a brief time) but now it's solidly middle class, not to say upscale - with multi-million dollar co-ops throughout the area and the are you need to go to now for good deals is upper Manhattan (the economy willing).

There are some areas I wouldn;t go into in the outer boroughs - but I wouldn;t hesitate at Washington Heights.

Well my first post might as well be to stand up for my new neighborhood. I just moved to Washington Heights after 16 years in what is now the "meatpacking district" and have no problem with my 80 year old mother coming up to visit. Yes, there are some blocks east of Broadway that can be described as "gritty' but I've shop all the time along St. Nicholas Ave and never had a problem. Truth be told I'd rather be here in than in my former neighborhood.

cheers.

Polyglot, but the way, does not mean multi-ethnic, it means "many languages". While often that implies multiple ethnicities, it does not, in fact, guarantee that.

If you want to avoid charges of racism, maybe you shouldn't say racist things.

And I LOVE Washington Heights.

Racism: hatred or intolerance of another race or races; or a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usu. involving the idea that one's own race is superior.

You guys accusing BigRuss of racism are good - to be able to determine that on the basis of his posts here is a true talent.

Point is - please be careful throwing around the word racist - it is a very loaded word and shouldn't be used lightly.

Happy train, I said nothing racist.

You, however, are a libeler.