How Dangerous is NYC Right Now... - YouTube

this is a video i really didn't want to make but  i've gotten so many questions about the rising  

crime rate in new york city and we're going to  dive into it we're going to talk my personal  

experiences crime stats what the city's trying  to do and if it's still safe for tourists to  

visit you don't want to miss this before we get  into any statistics i want to share a story that  

happened right here at atlantic avenue adriana  and i were waiting for an express train and a  

young girl approached us she was asian my first  instinct was okay you know maybe she watches the  

youtube channel it happens sometimes strangers  come up to me and say hello but this wasn't that  

case she said to us guys i'm really afraid  right now can i ride the subway with you two  

until i get to my stop and we said of course you  can sure and i felt so bad at that moment that  

there's many new yorkers who are in real fear for  their safety every time they take the subway now  

for my tourists watching i don't want you to panic  i'm not trying to scare you i still think you  

should visit but there's some steps you need to  take and we're going to get to that later in the  

video statistically speaking crime is up in every  single category in new york city grand larceny up  

almost 70 percent grand larceny auto almost 100  increase hate crimes up 121 all of these numbers  

should alarm you but we have to also take into  account historical perspectives here in 1990  

there was about 100 000 robberies in 2021 there  was only 13 000 and i know a lot of native new  

yorker friends of mine are afraid of those days  coming back they're seeing a spiral right now  

and i can even share my own family's history my  parents immigrated to brooklyn in the late 1970s  

from ukraine my mom got mugged my dad  had the battery from his car stolen  

two separate times he even tried to chain the  hood of his car down and they still managed to  

steal his battery i sincerely hope that new york  is not moving back towards those really dark days  

in the past i've said things like crime  in new york city is only concentrated in  

certain areas but the sad fact is that almost  every single police precinct in new york  

has seen an uptick in crime shoplifting has gotten  absolutely out of control of late new york city  

in fact one guy went viral when he was filmed  carrying 10 packages of meat outside of a trader  

joe's as an employee of any of those types of  stores they're told do not intervene let them go

look how bad things have gotten at dwayne reed  to get toothpaste you have to get an associate  

same thing with toothbrushes even underwear seen  this for expensive electronics before but for nine  

dollar toothpastes wild shockingly the white  claws are totally available and not protected  

you know things are getting interesting when  they're selling pepper spray on the streets that  

duane reed actually had security but there's been  stores that have closed in new york city because  

too many of their goods have been stolen action  could send me this clip of a 7-eleven in astoria  

read that writing right there shoplifted to  death now a lot of this is happening in the  

bigger corporations because if people tried  stealing from certain bodegas i think the  

owners would have a serious problem with that  a topic that's on everybody's mind is subway  

violence now the media is all over this anytime  there's any incident involving a shoving or a  

stabbing in the subway pretty much guaranteed to  be front page news and the media knows what gets  

clicks keep this in mind three million people a  day ride the subway your odds of having a problem  

are extremely slim it's still relatable and it's  still sad it's still tragic because you read about  

somebody getting slashed on the subway and you  think to yourself that could have been me that  

could have been a loved one that could have been  a friend and that's the real scary thing going on  

right now all right ben what's your opinion on the  increasing subway violence riding a subway now is  

totally a different experience than when i first  moved into new york i get my mom calling me every  

time you know did you ride the subway today it's  scary like writing the subway and then reading  

seeing all these articles do you think tourists  have to be afraid tourists don't have to be afraid  

but they have to be careful watching videos like  this well we'll put them in a good spot i would  

say all right you're getting a bonus man you're  getting a bonus you know what would be a crime  

in new york not getting some of these mini  donuts from cousins dozens at decal market

here's the question what is the city doing  about all this the new mayor eric adams just  

released a 17-page plan to clean up the subway  and i read all of it so you don't have to  

as announced in early january new yorkers will  continue to see an increased presence of nypd  

and subway cars especially at high priority  stations the following is banned lying down  

sleeping or outstretching in a way that takes  up more than one seat creating an unsanitary  

environment by spitting littering and more  exhibiting aggressive behavior towards other  

passengers using the subway system for any other  purpose than transportation smoking or open drug  

use there's also a passage about outreach for the  homeless and he made some statements that majority  

of homeless people are not violent there have been  a lot of high profile cases about homeless people  

doing some terrible things in the city will  it work we're gonna have to see this was just  

announced there's a pilot program coming where  they're gonna add protective doors to three subway  

stations to start the kind of doors that are  really common in many countries around the world  

and in hopes of stopping subway shovings and  also suicides i think this is a great step  

in the right direction the problem is they did a  study a few years ago and found out that only 128  

of the 472 stations could even handle it so  this is something that's going to be ongoing  

and don't expect to see protective coverings at  every subway station in new york city anytime soon  

the city has major problems and crime needs to be  a top concern especially with the covid 19 rates  

waning right now and i'm not trying to  sound pessimistic making this video because  

there's millions of people who go about their  lives in new york without incident every single  

day there's certain things you have to adjust to  being a tourist or being a new new yorker there's  

definitely one crime you're gonna see daily in new  york city and that's people jumping the turnstiles  

at subways in fact there was a recent article that  said up to one-third of people aren't even paying  

their bus fare anymore anytime you go to the  subway and you want to feel a little safer  

ride in the car with the conductor and you  can find out where that is by locating the  

indication board right here now adriana for  example my wife when i'm not with her she always  

rides in this car this is very important  for my single females watching especially  

don't stand too close to the edge here  always stay by the wall and be aware of  

who's boarding the subway car that you're in if  anyone is acting erratic don't be afraid to get  

up and move to the next car at the next stage  that's something a lot of local new yorkers  

know to do that tourists don't i read a lot of  these facebook groups that say don't wear jewelry  

on the new york city subway don't use your cell  phone 90 of people on the train are using their  

phones what's more important is that you're paying  attention to who is jumping onto each subway car  

you know just the other day someone walked onto  the train was talking to themselves looked erratic  

they even sat right next to me nobody on the  train flinched they were paying attention  

and he got off one stop later and things like that  will happen longer you ride the subway so just  

be aware of it for my tourists watching the areas  around penn station and port authority in midtown  

there's a lot of mentally ill people roaming  about so you have to be aware of that and if  

you see something strange you know don't be afraid  to cross the street don't be afraid to turn around  

you've got to keep your wits about you especially  in midtown don't get into confrontations with  

strangers if someone's being too loud near you if  someone's smoking near you just move away remove  

yourself from those situations i've read too many  stories about a fight being started over something  

trivial somebody pulls a knife somebody pulls a  gun you don't ever want to fight with people who  

have less to lose than you do i'm going to give  a tip to my tourists watching i don't think you  

should ride the subway by yourself after 11 or 12  a.m especially if you're not comfortable with new  

york city and definitely if you're a single woman  budget some money if you like to go out late for  

ubers and lifts just one less thing to worry  about the trains take forever on the late night  

routes and there's a lot less people around women  traveling by themselves you need to listen to this  

be aware of who's around you especially when  you're riding the subway is somebody following  

you i've heard different stories from women about  creepy stuff like this happening to them so don't  

zone out when you're in public this is something  i've never talked about on a video but for the  

last few years i always carry pepper spray when i  go out now i don't think tourists need to buy this  

but if you move to the city you take the subway  a lot you're out by yourself at night especially  

a lot of my women watching i would rather  have this and never need it than need it  

and not have it crime is up that's a fact  but i didn't make this video to scare you  

because there's still tons of people moving to  new york rental prices are still through the roof  

i made this to inform you because no matter  what gotta take care of yourself first when  

you're here another really big topic right  now in new york city is the cost of living  

and in this video we break down all the  prices so you don't have to check it out