138th between Riverside and Broadway for a South American (Peru: renting, crime)

[danieln]

Hi guys.

I'm planning on renting a apt at 138th, between Riverside and Broadway. Is it any safe?

I leave home at 8am to go to work and get back between 9-11 PM. If I get any later than this, I can use a taxi.

I'm a white brazilian guy from Sao Paulo, a city the same of size of new york that has already 7000 homicides this year.

Usually I know how to care of myself - don't speaking a cellphone at night in the streets, don't walking with a camera in my neck or showing money, don't using any expensive stuff (clothes, jewelry, clocks), etc. - and the apt is like one block away from the subway. Just cross the Broadway and go down the street to get there.

What do you guys think about it?

[BKTony]

You should be alright then in that area. You have lived in a big city more dangerous than NYC and you have good common street smarts so you will be alright over there. Uptown's reputation for being dangerous is way overblown IMO.

[vitalove]

You should be fine. That area is always pretty busy. I was just over there today. There are some new shops and restaurants right along Broadway and they serve up the area a lot. Also, the train being there is great.

Lastly, you're only one block from Riverside Drive which has Riverbank State Park. You should really enjoy that.

[danieln]

It's a pretty cool place, actually.

Many people said that it was a bad place, etc, but all I see on the streets are nice people from many different places - sometimes I can get their accents while they speak spanish/english because portuguese has some similarities with spanish and because my english has some accents too.

Of course, the people aren't those rich people from Greenwich Village or the other trendy neighbourhoods, but it doesn't matter to me, as long as there is respect among everyone. Also, I don't deal with drugs and I don't look at other people's womens and I'm not in any type of gang.

I know that it's not the safest place on earth, but I got very worried about it. The sub is really one block away and I really don't plan on getting home too late (10PM is my limit). Maybe one or two times I can get late but if that happens, I can take a cab.

[NooYowkur81]

The blocks in between Riverside and Broadway are spotty. In the summer a lot of those blocks can be really loud and there are a lot of young knuckleheads up to no good. Heads up. It's more of a quality of life thing with that area than crime issues really. I don't really consider "Hamilton Heights," to be dangerous but after 27 years of living in this city I've developed quite the tolerance level. So just keep that in mind when considering my opinion.

NYC doesn't really have a Brazilian community per se. So your not really gonna find that anywhere in the city. Queens has a lot of South Americans, but honestly a Brazilian has about as much in common with an Ecuadorian or Peruvian as he does with a Dominican (heck probably more with a Dominican), so I don't think that's really an issue.

You should be fine though considering you are already accustomed to a big city. Good luck.

[danieln]

Actually, there are some differences. As a Brazilian, I don't speak spanish and, actually, I'm not looking for a brazilian community. I want to integrate more with other people. Also, brazilian are usually more mixed up than other people from south america. I have african, italian, dutch and indonesian parents.

But I look more like a dutch/italian than anything else. I'm very white - can't even stand for 3 or 4 hours in the sun before being really burnt/tanned.

I'm working here and there's a lot of stuff for me to learn about the english language.

About the crimes, I were after a place that don't looks like a warzone. I came from a city with 7000 homicides only in this year (counting only the registered ones, of course).

I like the neighbourhood, the people around here and etc. As everybody said it's not a dangerous zone, I'll just keep my head up and that should be enough.

I usually sleep with earphones and a/c on, so I don't hear a lot of noise outside.

Thank you!

[Viralmd]

If you're from Sao Paulo, NYC should be a piece of cake. Sao Paulo's crime makes NYC's crime pale into insignificance.