Train, Harlem, the Bronx and safety
 

I will settle in NY (coming from Europe) just after the summer, and will live in Westchester.

Train to go there from Manhattan stops at Harlem 125th station, then Fordham, Botanical Gardens, etc. (this is the Bronx if I understand well...).

Question is: are the trains safe in these areas ? (even in the evening, as I tend to work beyond 8pm....)

I have heard various stories about Harlem (maybe old ones) and I have also red about some gang fight in 125th station a couple of years ago... Am I getting too worried ?

Thanks to let me know !!

I've exited the Metro-North many times between 9pm & midnight, waiting on the street to board the M60 bus to either LaGuardia or to get to the hostel at 103rd & Amsterdam.

It's a busy street, and most poeple are busy with their own lives, too much so to be bothering others. I don't know that I'd want to be haning around at 2am, but evening hours seems OK to me. I don't live there, but I was nowhere near intimidated, altho beforehand I did worry as you are doing.

I hope some locals will respond too. Good luck.

I think you should realize that it's pretty unlikely that you'll be riding alone. Even if you're working late, NYC is the kind of place where a great number of people work late. If people aren't working, they are out with business associates for dinner or drinks.

Your biggest risk with MetroNorth is missing the last train and trying to figure out how to get home.

The fact is, NYC has far less crime than people perceive. It is not the NYC of a decade ago where I would suggest crime was rampant. Crime rates in NY have been dropping for a decade and NY is actually now far safer than numerous cities in the US.

That isn't to say crime doesn't occur as there are no guarantees about crime. But, your chances of being a crime victim riding a MetroNorth train through the South Bronx are relatively low.

Sounds like the NoWhitePlains line, which I take from Bronxville to Grand Central at all times of day and night when visiting the area. It's a great train line, commuter rail. I've never felt unsafe. Westchester is a great area to live.

Sounds like the Harlem Line on Metro-North. Fordham has always seemed like a lively station, but I have never disembarked there.

Anyway, the line is absolutely safe. Most of the people using the train are commuters from the suburbs, so relatively few people get off at 125th or Fordham. Most riders are going to the wealthy suburbs in Westchester.

Personally, I don't hestitate to use the 125th Street station before 11pm on weekdays and midnight on weekends (and I'm probably being over-cautious).

If your asking if it's safe to <i>ride</i> the train through those areas, Of course!

If you're not safe on that train you may as well just go and live in your little air raid shelter and never come out.

This is a train to one of the wealthiest areas in the US - in the mjor city with the kowest crime rate in the US. And while Harlem may have more middle of the night (not 8pm) street crime than - for instance - Park and 57th - why ever would you think it would end up on MetroNorth?