<p>Hey guys! I was just wondering about safety at Columbia, since it's in NYC and all. Are there a lot of crimes that occur there? Thanks :)</p>
<p>Do a search. This has been asked and answered a million times. The short answer is that it's perfectly safe, and I'm not sure what you're insinuating by "since it's in NYC and all."</p>
<p>Morningside Heights (the neighborhood that Columbia is in) is one of the safest parts of the city</p>
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Morningside Heights (the neighborhood that Columbia is in) is one of the safest parts of the city
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<p>Is this a joke? MS's perfectly safe, but "the safest parts of the city" are the upper west and east sides and midtown.</p>
<p>It feels very safe to me as a student and the crime stats back it up. But you have to be very careful to not be in the wrong place at the wrong time and be aware of your surroundings. Pretty much all of the crime reports I see (the vast, vast majority of them are muggings) involve people walking home alone at 3-4 in the morning on a weeknight or walking near the park after dark which will get you in trouble ANYWHERE, not just NYC.</p>
<p>no joke, in terms of crime stats it is true. (i didnt say it was THE safest.)</p>
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in terms of crime stats it is true.
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<p>Source?...</p>
<p>Thanks guys :) And I actually didn't mean to insinuate anything. I was just curious, since I live all the way on the west coast and don't know much about what happens over there in NY.</p>
<p>I believe Columbia Security published a newsletter a few years ago, where they gave a cite to an NYPD study that looked at various property and violent crimes, and concluded that morningside heights was the 2nd-safest neighborhood in NYC after the upper east side.</p>
<p>There are statistics on the NYPD's website if you care enough and dig enough.</p>
<p>edit: oh, you're asking qualitatively? Look, it's the same in any big city - there are certain things you don't do.<br>
- Don't go into parks after dark (although central park, as an exception, is pretty safe these days because it's flooded with cops).<br>
- Be aware of your surroundings on the subway late at night.<br>
- If you're walking on a street and you <em>can't see anyone else</em>, i.e. you're alone, be extra aware and look around you more often until you're in a more populated area. Very little stuff goes down when there are other people within earshot.</p>
<p>in the parts of manhattan you'll be in, you can essentially just** "don't do dumb things"** and nothing bad will ever happen to you. (except on move-in day, when all the thieves in the city walk brazenly into dorms to swipe whatever's not nailed down). That's all there is to it.</p>