Why Is New York City So Safe?
Measured by homicides plus transportation fatalities, the city continues to be one of the least dangerous places in the US.
New York City’s safety advantage has as much or more to do with cars as it does with crime.
Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
New York City is not as safe as it was before the pandemic and protests of 2020. The number of New Yorkers killed in homicides rose 59% from 2019 to 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and while it has been falling since then, it will still be 14% higher than pre-pandemic levels if current trends in police data hold up for the full year. Felony assaults reported to police remain much more common than before the pandemic and aren’t declining. Deaths from traffic and transit accidents rose 25% from 2019 to 2021, and while they have been falling since then, they too remain markedly higher than in the late 2010s.
Still, New York City is much safer than most other big US cities. By the simple metric of homicides plus land-transport deaths, it’s among the safest places in the country.