<p>I was recently accepted to NYU-Poly (the Brooklyn campus). The campus is located in Brooklyn Heights.</p>
<p>So, the back story: My father grew up in Brookyln during the 70s. He dodged bullets and watched people die on a daily basis and is traumatized from it. Obviously he's still paranoid about Brooklyn and therefore does not want me attending a school in that area.</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure that Brooklyn Heights is currently just as "safe" as any other city - meaning, don't do anything dumb and you'll be fine.</p>
<p>My dad won't let me go to school in Brooklyn if he thinks I'm going to be unsafe, and it doesn't at all help that I'm an attractive white girl (sorry, I'm not vain, I just put that in for argument's sake).</p>
<p>Any opinions on this? Tips? Anyone going to school or living in or near Brooklyn Heights that can tell me the safety factor? </p>
<p>Visiting on Saturday, but my dad is coming with me and I want to be prepared because he's very negative about it. I doubt that it's dangerous but since I want to go to this school VERY BADLY, I want to be as informed as possible and have a good argument if he's still uneasy!</p>
<p>Visiting is a great start…there is nothing like walking around seeing how you feel.
For a more detailed exploration of safety issues, read the NYU-Poly Campus Security and Fire Safety Report. The 2009-2010 version of the report details crime statistics for the time period 2007-2010. The actual data starts at page 28. The campus looks pretty safe, and it seems like the biggest issue is alcohol law violations.</p>
<p>Thank you so much that’s a big help! If I can get my dad to see that the campus is safe, all I’ll need to do then is convince him of the surrounding area external to the campus. I really appreciate your help :)</p>
<p>Your dad grew up in a very tough area of Brooklyn, apparently. But Brooklyn Heights is probably safer now than when I was living there in the mid-80s and I never felt unsafe walking around, taking the subway, etc. As I recall, it’s a pricey neighborhood, lots of professionals and families, a lot of Lebanese and Persian shops/restaurants…a quiet neighborhood. </p>
<p>Visiting should make him feel better. He probably doesn’t realize how much that area and nearby Park Slope have gentrified and become magnets for young professionals who can’t afford Manhattan.</p>
<p>While NYU-Poly seems pretty safe to me, it is located at 6 MetroTech Center, which is generally viewed as “downtown” Brooklyn. While it’s not too far from Brooklyn Heights, and I personally would not be concerned about neighborhood safety, I don’t think I’d oversell it as being in Brooklyn Heights.</p>
<p>If your father is operating on his memories of NYC in the '70s before he moved out, he may be unaware of the dramatic changes that have been going on in NYC and Brooklyn since then. I can relate to his memories somewhat as I grew up in NYC as a kid during the 1980s when many parts of NYC were still heavily crime-ridden and sketchy. </p>
<p>However, that has not been the case with extremely few exceptions since the late 1990’s. It also doesn’t help that the mass media…especially those outside of NYC still portray NYC as the way it was in the crime-ridden 70’s and 80’s as opposed to what it actually has become…especially in gentrified neighborhoods like Brooklyn Heights: a practical Disneyland for upper/upper-middle class tourists and young urban professionals. </p>
<p>I’m betting he will be shocked to hear that I routinely see such tourists routinely enjoying themselves with toddlers/babies in tow in Times Square as late as 1-2 am in the morning as such tourists wouldn’t be caught dead there after sundown in the seedier 1980’s.</p>