Busiest and quietest parts of Manhattan after working hours (theater, stores)

[MarineBlue]

Aside from theater district, where are the big crowds to be found in Manhattan south of 100th after working hours? On the other hand, which parts are ghost towns and to be avoided after hours?

Is midtown east, midtown west, soho, fidi, east village, all very busy after hours and into the small hours of the morning? And are they safe to walk through with a family during evening and late at night?

[LadyR1990]

It's all about street smarts. I was down in the Financial District around 9:30 on a Saturday a few weeks ago and I was surprised how many people were coming and going. We left where we were around 1am and it was considerably less busy, we did get a cab tho. I got mugged once in Chelsea and someone was standing literally 10 feet away from me and there were tons of people around. It was a saturday night as well.

[popartist]

East Village is pretty active pretty late. Midtown West, due to tourists and proximity to Times Square is also pretty active. I find that Soho actually gets really quiet in the evening after all the stores close, more so than even the Financial District. That's not to say that it's not safe, I think it would be fine. Because the East Village and Midtown West have more questionable characters around at all times, street smarts are definitely needed even with a lot of people about. So, there is not a direct correlation between desertedness and crime.