I will be going to NY for the first time. What places should I advoid that are dangerous, etc?

Question

I am staying in the Times Square area, but if I'm exploring the city, what unsafe areas should I advoid?

Sorry if I made myself sound like a hillbilly from these responses I am getting. Actually I am from an urban city myself in California, SF. It's just that I am a young female traveling alone to Ny for the first time for business related reasons. That is the only reason I ask. You know how it can get ladies.

But thank you everyone!

Answer 1

I was a single woman living in Manhattan and here are the places you don't want to visit:

#1-Washington Heights/Inwood especially after dark. The only thing that would really be nice to see here is the Cloisters Museum... if you're into that thing I'd recommend it.. it's very nice. But if you're uncomfortable in an area that would be more dangerous I'd say not to go here at all.

#2-East Harlem. There really isn't much to see here and it's not the safest place. On the east side generally I'd say not to go over 96th Street especially after dark.. this also goes for central Harlem. West Harlem has 2 major universities (Columbia and City College) and therefore attracts more younger students, etc... so it's not as bad.. I still probably wouldn't head up there unless you had a reason to.. not too spectacular.

#3-South of Canal St. or Chinatown after dark. Honestly it's not that terrible at all... but one block over from a nice, populated street will be an empty deserted street, often not well lit, a lot of shady business after dark and it's easy to wander into not such a good situation if you're by yourself. I wouldn't feel too comfortable being here after dark by myself.. I live in Manhattan and I still can't make sense of this place when the lights go out.

#4-Most parks after dark (especially Central Park.) I used to hang out in the park near my building after dark since I had a few friends who people knew not to mess with... but this was a small park and if you don't have that friend who has a rep. in the area don't... not even if the safest neighborhoods. There are a lot of heroin users, etc in them.. day and night... but at night there's no one else around but them.

#5-Next to the river. If you're by yourself don't walk along the river. There aren't many people, not many places to run or get help if you need it and I've known the homeless to spend a lot of time there doing things they shouldn't be doing..

Alright! Hope that was helpful.. let me quickly shoot out some places you WOULD like to visit:

-Soho -West Village -East Village -Union Square -Chelsea

-East and West Villages (during the day they're awesome shops and restaurants.. during the night a lot of bars.. I like E. better but that's more my style.) And don't listen to that guy about St. Marks not being safe... it's a totally fine street. 6 years ago I'd agree with him but these days it's almost TOO safe (if that's possible.) It has an imagine from years back but it's TOTALLY cleaned up and has some nice restaurants... it's actually a very expensive street to live on.. Ashlee Simpson lives on St. Marks.. (not that I even like her.. just saying it's not a bad place.. and like Ashlee Simpson it's not at all bad or hardcore.. only likes to give that imagine.) I moved from the E. Village and everday I long for the AMAZING cheap ethnic food around there.

All the places I said you'd want to go are VERY nice. They each have a different feel so I'm not sure which one would fit you best for nightlife/restaurants/etc but I'm sure you'd enjoy all of them.

If you need directions ask anyone and they're usually more than willing to help... and a MUST SEE is the website hopstop.com. It's like mapquest for the subways. It's fantastic... you can even text hopstop on your phone with an address and it'll send back the closest subway station or directions. It's awesome.

Alright, hope this all was helpful. If you'd like to ask me any questions feel free to contact me. Have a nice time in NY!

Answer 2

Times Square is a very busy area, there are always a lot of cops and plus amounts of people. No matter where you are in New York city you must watch your back and be very aware of your surroundings reguardless of where you are.

If you are exploring stay with a group of people, don't ride the trains past 12am on a weekday and make sure your money is deep in your pocket. Pick pocketers pry on tourists, and if your from new york you can sniff a tourist a mile away.

Just be aware, smart and don't take your money out too much. If you really want to know what to avoid, its the surrounding boroughs of Manhattan. Brooklyn doesn't have much tourist spots so maybe you should avoid that if you are paranoid...

Answer 3

people are making nyc out much worse than it is. here are the assumptions. you are relatively intelligent and can move through the city like youre not a dumb tourist/pushover and remotely blend in. having said that. almost all of nyc is safe during the day and you can feel free to walk around or take the subway without being huddled in the corner. neighborhoods that youll be most likely visiting such as midtown, the village, east village, downtown, chelsea, union sq, soho, etc. are all VERY safe. in the outer boros if you dont know where youre going id be more cautious but still park slope, williamsburg, coney isl, cobble hill in brooklyn are safe and astoria, jackson heights and flushing are also safe in queens. i know little about the bronx so i cant comment. now. i will say a friend of mine came to visit me last year and got robbed...purse stolen...and all the drama that came with it. it happened by the way on 34th st/herald sq, the area of the city i would consider the safest. this was after she had wandered all over brooklyn on her own without incident earlier in her trip. so go figure.

Answer 4

most of the treks you point out are fairly nicely maintained and travelled and would hadly be seen risky. The Kakoda path, for occasion, is amazingly everyday with Australians as that's a factor of our WWII history; the Inca path is hiked oftentimes by utilising tourist communities. The exception is El Caminito del Rey that's seen the main fatal trek contained in the international, as most of the path is intense, slender, and has fallen into disrepair, sections alongside the cliff have fallen away, and chains meant to assist walkers have rusted away. it somewhat is unquestionably unlawful to stroll this path and, once you're making it around the barriers and for this reason have an twist of destiny, the government won't be conscious of you're there and getting help would be next to impossible. no longer a trek i could propose.

Answer 5

some parts of Lower Manhattan, like a few grungy, dirty tourist shops along Chinatown. Daytime might be alright in general. There were some dark corners near St. Marks that I would avoid, too.

I'd say do lower during the day, then Midtown/Times Sq/Uptown at night.

Answer 6

I would avoid Harlem and uptown, not me personally, but I think that you should. If you are white (I am presuming) you will already stick out like a sore thumb, and if you do not know anyone (which I am also presuming since you are a tourist) some kids might come at you or some one else might try to make trouble. Harlem and Spanish Harlem are nice places, just not for you tourists.

Answer 7

My son lives in Brooklyn and says you can go anywhere, just mind your own business and you'll do just fine. If you're looking for a free walking tour of the city, do a yahoo or google search for "free new york city" and you'll find lots of stuff to do and see. Have fun! It's an awesome city. Just dress up a bit and you'll fit right in.

Answer 8

Stay out of Cental Park at night. Ask your hotel for a map. You can take the subway to the Village and wander there during the day. Have fun.

Answer 9

Just use common sense and you should be fine. Pretty much anywhere is safe in Manhattan in the daytime. Don go out at night alone, don't go into Central Park alone at night, Take cabs if you can instead of walking...just keep your eyes open and be aware of what's going on around you.

Answer 10

You can still go to The Bronx, but I would suggest going during the daytime. It's not especially dangerous, but it is a poorer area.