A majority of New Yorkers are still worried about their safety, according to a Siena College poll of 802 New York state residents released on Wednesday.
A larger share of New York City residents said they had taken steps to keep themselves safe, compared to people elsewhere in the state. A quarter of the approximately 345 people surveyed in New York City said they’ve taken a self-defense class in the last year. More than a third of city residents told pollsters they had bought a personal safety device like a Taser in that timeframe, and 17% said they had bought a gun. For each of those categories, the city surpassed the statewide average.
While a majority — 59% — of participants who live in New York City said they are not more worried about being a victim of a crime than they have been in the past, 39% said they are more worried about their safety than they have ever been.
Almost 90% of surveyed city residents said crime is a serious problem, and 70% said it’s a serious issue in their own community. Just 39% of suburbanites and 54% of upstate residents reported serious concerns about crime in their neighborhoods.
In general, people in New York City expressed more concern about crime than residents of other parts of the state. That’s even though rhetoric about crime and threats to public safety helped Republicans win suburban races last fall and contributed to Republican Lee Zeldin’s relatively narrow loss to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in a state that historically leans blue by wide margins.
NYPD data shows that shootings, homicides and most other serious crimes have decreased since this time last year, while car thefts and assaults are up. Reported transit crimes are down 4.6% compared to this time last year, according to NYPD statistics.
Other key findings among New York City participants include:
- 22% removed bumper stickers or other paraphernalia expressing their personal beliefs
- 32% bought a professionally monitored home security system
- 24% participated in a neighborhood watch program
- 19% moved to a safer area
- 9% spent $500-$999 on purchases to make themselves feel safer and 10% spent $1,000 or more
- 17% called police two or three times when they felt unsafe in their neighborhood and 5% called five times or more
New York City residents also said they had been victimized at higher rates than people upstate or in the suburbs. About a quarter reported having fallen victim to identity theft in the last 12 months, while 16% said they had been burglarized and 16% said they had been physically assaulted.
More than 40% of surveyed city residents said they had felt threatened by a stranger’s behavior in a public space and 46% reported that they had witnessed violent or threatening behavior in public.
The poll comes amid an ongoing, pervasive fear among many New Yorkers following an increase in subway crime during the pandemic and amid a mental health crisis playing out on the city’s subways, even as Mayor Eric Adams and Hochul have flooded the transit system with police and have begun to install surveillance cameras on every subway car.
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