Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Even The Most Dangerous Neighborhood In NYC Is Safer Than Baltimore
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Mar 17, 2016
Modified Mar 17, 2016
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Mar 17, 2016
Modified Mar 17, 2016
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Tabloids like the NY Post won't stop believing that de Blasio's sent the city spiraling back to the Bad Old Days, what with the slashings and the shootings and whatever else might happen in the country's most populous city. Still, according to recently-released NYPD data on major felonies committed citywide, even New York's most dangerous neighborhoods are safer than entire cities like Newark, St. Louis, Detroit, New Orleans, and Baltimore.
I Quant NY calculated the average homicide rate for cities in the U.S. with populations of more than 250,000 and measured them against individual homicide reports for neighborhoods like Ocean Hill, Brownsville and South Jamaica, which have the highest murder rates in New York. In Baltimore, the annual murder rate is under 40 per 100,000 residents; in Ocean Hill, there were under 30 murders per 100,000 residents.
This is all the more jarring when you consider the murder rate in Ocean Hill is five times that of New York City as a whole, but unsurprising when you consider that as of August, there were more murders total in Baltimore than in New York. Baltimore has a population of only 620,000 people—there are over 8.4 million people living in this city.
It's been said time and time again—New York, despite its size (and its tabloid fearmongering), is an exceptionally safe city, for what it is. That doesn't mean we don't have problems with crime, and it doesn't mean that there aren't neighborhoods that suffer from violence, particularly when it comes to homicides resulting from gun violence, which saw a dramatic spike last year.
I went to college in Baltimore, and on our first day of freshman orientation, we had to sit through a two-hour safety seminar. My fellow New Yorkers and I figured we didn't have to pay attention, since we were from a Big Bad City, but the problems that plague Baltimore are incredibly serious. And they're relevant now, both in light of the riot that broke out last year after Freddie Gray died in police custody and because of the mayoral election, which began garnering some national attention when prominent Black Lives Matter activist (and native Baltimorean) DeRay Mckesson jumped into the race.
This is Gothamist and not Charm Cityist or even DCist. But considering one of the biggest recent anti-crime achievements of late seems to have been the destruction of a homeless woman's property thanks to manufactured NY Post fauxtrage, it's worth taking some things into perspective.
Anyway, I Quant has a fascinating map comparing NYC neighborhoods to their homicide-rate equivalent cities—feel free to play around with it on their site.
Tagged
baltimore
brooklyn
crime
HOMICIDE
murder
ocean hill
Rebecca Fishbein
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
NYC looks to grow involvement in Open Streets as applications open for 2027
The Mamdani administration bolstered funding this year and is asking applicants to suggest infrastructure upgrades.
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Oct 14, 2026 at 12:52 p.m. ET
New Yorkers are paying $300 million for natural gas they don't even use
A new study found that nearly 2% of the city's natural gas is leaking into the air and causing climate pollution.
By
Rosemary Misdary
News
New Yorkers are paying $300 million for natural gas they don't even use
A new study found that nearly 2% of the city's natural gas is leaking into the air and causing climate pollution.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Early Addition: Eric Adams did not convince a Wisconsin town to build a data center
By
James Ramsay
Hit-and-run driver arrested trying to flee to Uzbekistan after deadly crash, NYPD says
By
Brittany Kriegstein
NY measles outbreak more widespread than official count, health officials say
By
Caroline Lewis
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .