How many of you New Yorkers (and newly New Yorkers)...

ny isnt about getting mugged......that rarely happens....if u watch the news too much, then ull get the wrong impression.

I got to college in the city - I go to Columbia. My parents were petrified at first, because we're right near some really sketchy areas bordering Harlem, but I also grew up in New York, not very far from the city. My parents both grew up in NYC, which I think made them a bit more afraid, because in some ways it's safer now than it used to be. They also exposed me to the city when I was very young, and although they'd been trusting me alone in the city for a couple of years before I left for school, letting me *live* there was a completley different story. The issue may lie not only in your mom being afraid of New York, but in that she's worried that you can't fend for yourself. You need to prove that to her, although I'm not sure *how*. Ultimately, your mom also needs to know how important this is to you, and that in the end, it needs to be your decision for the right reasons. I think the bottom line of going to college in New York is that you need to have a good head on your shoulders. The city as a whole is not a particularly unsafe place, but it *does* have unsafe areas, of which you need to make sure you are aware, just like you need to be sure you're aware of what to do and not do in a city like New York. Being in college in NYC allows you to live in and experience the city, while still having somewhat of a controlled environment. Explain that to your mom, see if it helps. Good luck!

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Updated On: 1/13/05 at 09:04 PM

In what neighborhood is this college?

Very nice and safe neighborhood. Tell her your Auntie Rath will watch out for you - oh wait - better not.

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NY is absolutelly fine! I live just outside of the city and i have roamed it alone many times and late at night as well. Never experienced a problem in any of the bouroughs. BEG BEG your mom to let you go becuse ny rocks everyone's socks!

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The funny thing is, a lot of the colleges that you'd think would be in nice areas are actually the types of places where you never, ever want to leave campus. *cough*Yale*cough*

I was born and raised in New York and have lived in Hartford for nearly 25 yrs. I was mugged in Columbia, Missouri and in Hartford as well. Go figure.

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I dunno. It's a question of invidual priorities.

When I moved here I figured I'd rather take the risk of being robbed, mugged, raped, shot, stabbed, garrotted, hung (no comments), boiled in oil, dropped into a nest of vipers, anything rather than experience a slow agonizing death of stultifying boredom in my hometown.

Oh yes. I told my mother that the worst that could happen was that I didn't like it and I'd move back home. That was more years ago than most of you can remember.

I live in the suburbs now, but lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for ten years. The worst thing that happened to me was having my wallet stolen once - and that was because a friend had stupidly checked my purse at a club when she got tired of watching it for me.

I wear a backpack virtually everywhere I go, and in NYC, I always feel someone pulling at it and its zippers. Note to all.

I never carry a wallet, and never anything over $5.

I wear a bullet-proof vest under my clothes at all times, and I carry a gas mask wherever I go in the 5 boros. I never venture out after the sun goes down either.

I feel perfectly safe.

I know DC is not the topic of this post, but this is directed to the person who posted that she should tell her parents that "at least she is not going to college in DC". Yeah, DC has crime- mainly in NE/SE, but don't judge the whole city by some neighborhoods. Like all cities, we have good neighborhoods and not-so good ones. Our whole city is not a ghetto. I moved down here in 2001 to go to grad school, ended up staying and have never had a problem.

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