Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Kinda pose as someone considering living in the big dorm next to my apartment building (because both buildings themselves are equally secure).
I could say "do you get a lot of crimes, especially violent crimes, involving the college students in the dorm over here? Not including student on student crime"
Given all this info... coupled with the fact that both my roommate and I felt perfectly fine during our visits, am I the only one who thinks it would be crazy to not at least sublet this place and see how it goes?!
I would totally do it and see nothing wrong at all. Other people would disagree BUT have never spent time there, dont listen to them.
Just to give some background on my situation (which will not include 4 people sharing 2 bedrooms) and what led me to move... it's actually several reasons.
The real fear here from my parents is stray bullets, and constant rapes/muggins/murders due to the proximity to the projects. Which I get is across the street... but so are the cops!!!!
My mom wants me to walk into the police station and ask an officer what living in the area is like safety wise... I feel mortified doing that plus I think it's unfair to waste a cops time like that since he's probably just gonna spout the stats im already aware of to me. Given all this info... coupled with the fact that both my roommate and I felt perfectly fine during our visits, am I the only one who thinks it would be crazy to not at least sublet this place and see how it goes?!
I also think you'd be crazy not to sublet the place.
Also the NYPD don't like to have their time wasted, and you probably won't get such a friendly response. Your parents sound like they aren't from the city and don't know it well. Some of the best neighborhoods in Manhattan have housing projects or other forms of governmental housing.
This is absolutely what I was thinking WriterDude. I wouldn't expect a cop to sit down and chat with me about the area. I know if I were a cop I would be annoyed, regardless of the area. I feel like he/she would just think "I can't believe I have to explain to this dumb white girl that Harlem isn't the safest part of the city. Go back to the suburbs."
I am going to do it! And yes I agree the low hundreds are undeveloped but this is part of the problem I was running into with trying to get opinions... This is VERY low hundreds. Not the teens. A few blocks from 96th street (apparently people seem to think all Harlem related crime somehow magically stops at 96th like there's an invisible fence they can't cross). But I do agree even the very low 100's are "underdeveloped" but they didn't seem unsafe.
East Harlem used to be like that, where the cutoff at 96th was more stark. What does change at 96th is the police precinct, and looking at crime rates and response, there will be differences in terms of precinct level data, especially considering the overall safety of both neighborhoods. There are pockets of areas that are perfectly fine above 96th, and while there are changes in the low100s, the comparisons are not as stark as in previous years. Third is outside the Carnegie Hill Historic District overlay which spans the UES and East Harlem, so the area tends to be less expensive than avenues to the west.
Third borders NYCHA, which is why some people tend to avoid it; however, the police precinct is at 102nd and 3rd, which helps to stabilize the immediate area. Just remember to use street smarts, don't walk through the projects, etc., and I do not think you would have too much of an issue compared with other neighborhoods in the city.
__________________
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
Thanks I agree. I couldn't help but think "okay there are projects over there... And a police station RIGHT HERE... Isn't that ALMOST a wash?
Let me put it this way,
wouldn't I be better off living across from a housing project but next to a police station as opposed to a few blocks away from a project and several blocks from the police station?
(Assuming both neighborhoods didn't have the seemingly spotless safety record of FiDi - FiDi is safe so it is less of an issue but i am way closer to some projects down here than 1PP. I think it's just EXTREMELY safe down here because ever since 9/11 you can't do anything without being filmed (though not sure if people in the projects know that, I would think they do. My parents think it's because of city hall... Personally I don't think that means anything)
AND speaking of which in spite of how extremely safe FiDi is... It's no gated community. When I was in college (went to Pace by the Brooklyn Bridge) there was one or two weeks where several female students said they were sexually assaulted. Fortunately they weren't hurt apparently some guy was sneaking up behind girls and I dunno I guess grabbing them to feel their t*ts before running away. No one ever caught him. I guess it could have been another student messing with them but if FiDi is FILMED under SO MUCH scrutiny why didn't they see it? Ugh. Still don't know how I'm gonna keep my parents calm through this. Im an adult so it's my choice I just wish there were a way to calm them down they are going to be constantly waiting for a phone call that I've been killed :-/
Last edited by Ms18597n; 03-11-2015 at 12:04 PM..
Reason: Addition
Thanks I agree. I couldn't help but think "okay there are projects over there... And a police station RIGHT HERE... Isn't that ALMOST a wash?
Let me put it this way,
wouldn't I be better off living across from a housing project but next to a police station as opposed to a few blocks away from a project and several blocks from the police station?
People ask quite often about safety everywhere in Harlem, but the more important questions to ask are about quality-of-life. Quality-of-life things are not visible to the casual observer, but appear over time and with residency. People have different levels of tolerance there.
Aside from i-phone thefts and "grab-and-run" crimes, which once happened quite often around here (especially on the subway platform), crimes usually happen between people who know each other. As long as you do not get in the way you will not be harmed. That said ... Harlem does have a preponderance of housing for all kinds of drug, prison, you name it rehab. This random element would seem to introduce the potential for incidents.
Understood. iPhone thefts are pretty much a concern everywhere I think. Obviously to varying degrees, but I think even a lot of unscrupulous "affluent" would snatch an iPhone if they could. Not to mention I think it's hard to know 100% if someone stole it or you lost it. I came back from an upscale club after a birthday party, one minute I had my phone the next it was nowhere to be found and find my iPhone wasn't working. Needless to say ever since then I am HYPER vigilant about my phone! Honestly it would have been less of a pain if I lost my wallet, cost me hundreds to replace the phone.
Regarding grab and run crimes this is also a vigilance no brainer. Keep your bag on your person. I tend to use cross body bags for this very reason (well that and its easier to be hands free).
Guess I figured that the potential for incidents in the immediate area was mostly countered by the police station being there.
Sorry to make this thread go on forever (and thank you all for all your help its extremely useful), but I am wondering and I understand if no one has anything to share...
...but has anyone out there run into a similar issue of moving to Harlem and having to assure their parents that they shouldn't wait by the phone to hear of my impending rape/murder?
Understood. iPhone thefts are pretty much a concern everywhere I think. Obviously to varying degrees, but I think even a lot of unscrupulous "affluent" would snatch an iPhone if they could. Not to mention I think it's hard to know 100% if someone stole it or you lost it. I came back from an upscale club after a birthday party, one minute I had my phone the next it was nowhere to be found and find my iPhone wasn't working. Needless to say ever since then I am HYPER vigilant about my phone! Honestly it would have been less of a pain if I lost my wallet, cost me hundreds to replace the phone.
Regarding grab and run crimes this is also a vigilance no brainer. Keep your bag on your person. I tend to use cross body bags for this very reason (well that and its easier to be hands free).
Guess I figured that the potential for incidents in the immediate area was mostly countered by the police station being there.
Sorry to make this thread go on forever (and thank you all for all your help its extremely useful), but I am wondering and I understand if no one has anything to share...
...but has anyone out there run into a similar issue of moving to Harlem and having to assure their parents that they shouldn't wait by the phone to hear of my impending rape/murder?
A big part of being an adult is you don't have to tell your parents anything. Are they paying for it?
If not, then you had absolutely no reason to tell them anything. It sounds like it's an issue created by you.
You could have even told them you live on the Upper East Side since your place is just a couple of blocks from the 96th Street station.
How would they even know the area is near the projects unless you told them about it?
They maybe reacting more to your description of things than what the area looks like. It sounds like they aren't familiar with NYC at all as anyone who knows the city knows you have governmental housing in a number of Manhattan neighborhoods south of 96th Street.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
