The Safest and Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in NYC
Crime may not be New York's most pressing issue anymore—we've got mind-boggling rents to worry about, instead!—but everyone still wants to know if the neighborhood they're living in (or about to live in) is safe.
As such, and because we care, we worked with apartment data site AddressReport to pull numbers on the safest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. We focused on non-violent crime—car theft, burglary and grand larceny—rather than violent crime (murder, rape, assault and robbery) because it's much more common, and therefore varies more widely between areas. The numbers are pulled from NYPD data from May 2013 to May 2014, as well as neighborhood population figures from the 2010 U.S. census. They are based on crimes per capita to account for differences in the populations of each area.
In Manhattan, neighborhoods like Roosevelt Island, Yorkville, and Washington Heights all fared well, while Times Square and the Meatpacking District—i.e. neighborhoods with big daytime populations of tourists, drunk tourists, and criminals who prey on tourists—landed at the bottom.
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We were surprised to see comparatively expensive areas like Fort Greene, Williamsburg, and Dumbo among Brooklyn's highest-crime areas, but less so to see family-oriented Borough Park and Windsor Terrace at the opposite end of the spectrum.
Take a look at the full numbers below, and feel good about at least one thing: you never wanted to live in the Meatpacking District anyway, right?
MANHATTAN
| Safest Neighborhoods | Non-violent crimes per 1,000 residents |
|---|---|
| Roosevelt Island | 2.401 |
| Beekman | 3.99 |
| Battery Park City | 4.33 |
| Civic Center | 5.62 |
| Hudson Heights | 6.18 |
| Tudor City | 6.44 |
| Yorkville | 7 |
| Washington Heights | 7.41 |
| Manhattan Valley | 7.62 |
| Carnegie Hill | 8.11 |
| Most Dangerous Neighborhoods | Non-violent crimes per 1,000 residents |
|---|---|
| Meatpacking District | 164 |
| Times Square | 144 |
| Garment District | 130.5 |
| Koreatown | 118.6 |
| Union Square | 73.2 |
| NoHO | 58 |
| Hudson Square | 55.7 |
| SoHo | 44.8 |
| Flatiron District | 42 |
| Columbus Circle | 31.7 |
BROOKLYN
| Safest Neighborhoods | Non-violent crimes per 1,000 residents |
|---|---|
| Borough Park | 4.87 |
| Bergen Beach | 4.88 |
| Midwood Park | 4.92 |
| Bath Beach | 4.99 |
| South Williamsburg | 5.17 |
| Kensington | 5.26 |
| Mapleton | 6.07 |
| Bensonhurst | 6.27 |
| Sunset Park | 6.35 |
| Windsor Terrace | 6.36 |
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| Most Dangerous Neighborhoods | Non-violent crimes per 1,000 residents |
|---|---|
| Downtown Brooklyn | 72.7 |
| Navy Hill | 40.3 |
| Greenwood Heights | 26.5 |
| Vinegar Hill | 25.2 |
| Williamsburg | 24.4 |
| Fort Greene | 20.3 |
| DUMBO | 16.5 |
| Mill Island | 16.2 |
| Prospect Park South | 16.1 |
| East Williamsburg | 15.7 |
QUEENS
| Safest Neighborhoods | Non-violent crimes per 1,000 residents |
|---|---|
| Bellerose | 2.48 |
| Glen Oaks | 3.96 |
| Pomonok | 3.98 |
| Beechurst/Whitestone | 4.83 |
| Corona | 5.13 |
| Little Neck | 5.52 |
| Rego Park | 5.75 |
| Belle Harbor | 5.87 |
| East Flushing | 5.91 |
| Murray Hill | 5.95 |
| Most Dangerous Neighborhoods | Non-violent crimes per 1,000 residents |
|---|---|
| Long Island City | 19.2 |
| Hunters Point | 18.4 |
| Howard Beach | 15.7 |
| Ozone Park | 14.4 |
| Jamaica | 12.4 |
| Flushing | 11.8 |
| Rochdale | 11.6 |
| Woodhaven | 11.4 |
| Kew Gardens | 10.9 |
| South Ozone Park | 10.7 |
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