<p>I'm in love with NYU, but my parents are worried that New York is not the best place to go to college. I'm a petite 5'1" girl from the burbs of Wisconsin, so the only huge cities I've been to are Milwaukee, Chicago, and also D.C. and Phillie. I did not find Phillie to be great except for the historical areas and museums. The other cities are ones I love, and I am sure I will love NYC. I need to convince my parents that I should not be concerned in Greenwich Village. Any advice on safety walking around "campus" or the areas of any dorms. Thanks!</p>
<p>NY is not like what it was thirty years ago as portrayed in Scorsese's Taxi Driver. In all honesty, I have never felt unsafe in NY before. I'm also one to not stay in my room, and take a million walks in between studying, when I'm free, when I just want to get my mind off things, many times at an unreasonably late hour. Never felt unsafe at all. Once I even walked home at 4 AM in the morning while high, perfect fine</p>
<p>if you really don't want to walk at night... I think there's the free nyu building to building taxi thing, but I heard it takes forever for them to arrive. Wash park area always have students walking by though, so just stay in the well lit area and maybe take a martial arts class if that makes you feel better</p>
<p>Much better to be in NYC than neighborhoods of Penn, Drexel, Lasalle, Temple. I say this as a lifelong resident of the city of Philadelphia. That said, NYC isn't for everyone. If you have claustrophobia, be wary. There are people everywhere, all the time in Manhattan. And always be aware of your surroundings and have your 'street smarts' on.</p>
<p>well its safe, but i still wouldnt recommend walking around at 4 am. i know people who did get mugged, but that was while they were walking in the middle of the night. while that wouldnt happen during the day, and it is not even the norm for that to happen at night, it is possible.</p>
<p>I'm a female and I never once felt unsafe in NYC in all four years (I lived all over the East Village and in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and did plenty of exploring). NYC is a generally safe city (Chicago has more crime for instance), and the Village, more specifically the area around campus, is the safest. Actually I walked around alone at 4am frequently and it was perfectly fine, I'd even walk through Washington Square Park in the middle of the night. NYC is the city that never sleeps, so there are always lights on and people around. And late at night there are free NYU vans you can call to take you home, though I never used them (it's mostly for people who live in the upperclassmen dorms that are further from "campus" like Lafayette or Water Street). Now, there are certainly shady areas of the city I wouldn't walk around in alone at night, but there's no reason for you to ever be in these neighborhoods in the first place (unless you like exploring), much less alone. You should definitely visit the city before you decide to go to school there though.</p>
<p>Our D dormed on Lafayette Street (near Chinatown), about a 15 minute ride (on the shuttles) or walk from her classes. She also frequently jogs on the Brooklyn Bridge. We also visit with some frequency from CT (not so much to see her, but to get real Chinese food!).</p>
<p>NONE of us ever feel unsafe, though I'm not sure, per one of the prior posts, I personally would want to walk around at 4 a.m.... That said, it is a city, and like all cities there is crime so reasonable caution is required. </p>
<p>Why not visit with your parents? NYC has lots to offer. While travel costs are rising this summer, you could probably get a Saturday morning flight into LaGuardia, a reasonable (for New York) hotel for Saturday night and then back home on Sunday evening. A little planning and you can see a broadway show, have a nice meal, see a museum or two, do some shopping and see the 'campus' as well.</p>
<p>BTW, if you didn't find Philly great, you were in the wrong places. If you go back, make sure you spend time near Penn's Landing (lots of restaurants / cafes) or Rittenhouse Square (shopping, theatre, restaurants) where people are out and about until all hours - the historical district is fine for museums, but not much more.</p>
<p>Philly goes down quick if you leave the core area you are mentioning above. Some of us care more about our safety overall rather than how good the food is (I never eat out).</p>
<p>The colleges (with the exception of the Art institute) are not in center city. Start venturing west to Drexel and UPenn and the neighborhood gets worse. Way too much random crime</p>
<p>My D grew up in NYC (Brooklyn) and now goes to school in Providence. She said the other day that she feels safer going around in NY at night than she does walking back to her dorm in Providence, so she always uses the saferide system there. It is much less populated, and so it's a bit daunting. Whereas NYC is always full of people. Subways are safe, clean, and so are the streets where she usually goes. Certainly there are less hospitable places-- as there are in any city-- but she wouldn't frequent those, and neither would you. The area around NYU is among the best and most exciting in the city. The only thing I would say about NYU is that there is no real campus. It is in the city and in public. No greens, no big expanse of lawn, etc. But it's a great place to be.</p>
<p>New York City (and the second precinct, which is where the University is) is, statistically, the safest city of its size in the country. Check out the stats.</p>
<p>Honestly, NYC (as long as you're not involved in any illegal activities :p) is pretty safe-so is Philly.</p>
<p>NYU is very safe. There's no real, fenced-in campus, but there's plenty of security. People (especially Midwesterners, I have to say) view NYC as this dark, scary place, but the truth is the crime here is relatively low compared to a lot of other U.S cities.</p>
<p>OP, I'm a girl and I've never felt unsafe walking the streets. Just be cautious at night and don't do anything stupid - you won't be in Wisconsin anymore. There aren't rapists hiding behind every trash can waiting for a small girl to walk by.</p>
<p>Greenwich Village is very safe.</p>
<p>I am a parent whose D will be attending as freshman in the fall, I'm from suburbs but I have been around NYU/WS at night on so many different occasions, because I am a 70's child and I love the village. It is very bright and well lit, campus security is very visible and there are so many people walking around that you really don't feel any threat. We took the "campus tour" and all NYU buildings have security posted, there are multiple buildings and businesses (100's) like Barnes and Noble, dunkin donuts, starbucks, pharmacies etc.etc. throughout the village, east village and union square that are considered safe havens for NYU students to go if they at all feel threatened in any way. There is alo the safe rides to any NYU building 12 mid to 7 am in addition to their daily bus rides to NYU buildings. I hope this helps your parents feel better about letting you go there. Good luck.</p>