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New York has had a reputation as a crime-ridden city, partly due to the hundreds of TV and movie crime dramas set in it. However, in recent years it has been ranked in the top ten safest large cities in the United States by City Crime Rankings (9th edition, 2003). In addition, New York has been growing safer for most of the last decade. The fight against crime has been aided by COMPSTAT, implemented in 1994 by the New York Police Department to map crimes, analyze problems and devise solutions. In the past decade, violent crime has dropped by two-thirds (see New York Crime Statistics) and FBI data indicate that the murder rate in 2000 was the lowest since 1967.
New York City's crime rates vary by neighborhood and borough. Staten Island is the safest borough in the city, Queens and Manhattan are in the middle range, while Brooklyn and The Bronx have the highest crime rates.
There have been some notorious crime sprees. For example, on July 29, 1976 the " Son of Sam", pulling a gun from a paper bag, killed one person and seriously wounded another, in the first of a series of attacks that terrorized the city for the next year.
As soon as the Sicilian Mafia moved to New York in the 1920s, they became infamous with their hits on businesses that did not pay money to them. They had also set up smuggling rings and fixed boxing matches. The Mafia flourished due to a distrust of the police in the Italian-American communities in New York. The five largest crime families in New York were the Bonnanos, the Colombos, the Gambinos, the Genovese, and the Luchese. The assimilation of the Italian-American population is choking the Mafia in New York, although they still operate.
New York City comprises Manhattan Island, Staten Island, the western part of Long Island, part of the North American mainland (the Bronx), and several small islands in New York Harbor.
New York has a humid continental climate. The city is adjacent to water, so temperature changes are not as drastic as those inland. Every winter, it snows in New York due to its latitude. Because of its key position, New York had been king in the shipping passenger trade between Europe and the Americas for quite some time, until the airplane came into wider use across the Atlantic.
New York winters are typically cold, and sometimes feature snowstorms that can paralyze the city with over a foot of snow. Springs are mild, averaging in the 50s (10-15 degrees celsius) in late March to lower 80s (25-30 degrees celsius) in early June. Summers in New York are hot and humid. It is common for temperatures to exceed 90 degrees fahrenheit (32 degrees celsius) but often stay below 100 degrees fahrenheit (40 degrees celsius). Autumns are comfortable in New York. However, weather is notably unpredictable in New York, even if not to the degree experienced in some other parts of the world. Mild, almost snowless winters and chilly summers surprise New Yorkers from time to time, there have been huge snowstorms as late as the second week in April, and there can occasionally be large temperature swings from one day to the next, so travelers are advised to check forecasts and bring several layers of clothing in late fall and early spring months (e.g., November, March, April).
Staten Island is hilly and spacious, and is the least populated borough in New York City. By contrast, space is sparse and valuable on Manhattan; there is nowhere to build but up, and that is why there are so many tall buildings in that borough.
The city will be threatened if the current patterns of global warming continue to raise the sea level.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1,214.4 km˛ (468.9 mi˛). 785.6 km˛ (303.3 mi˛) of it is land and 428.8 km˛ (165.6 mi˛) of it is water. The total area is 35.31% water.
The median income for a household in the city is $38,293, and the median income for a family is $41,887. Males have a median income of $37,435 versus $32,949 for females. The per capita income for the city is $22,402. 21.2% of the population and 18.5% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 30.0% of those under the age of 18 and 17.8% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
As of the census 2 of 2000, there are 8,008,278 people, 3,021,588 households, and 1,852,233 families residing in the city. The population density is 10,194.2/km˛ (26,402.9/mi˛). There are 3,200,912 housing units at an average density of 4,074.6/km˛ (10,553.2/mi˛). The racial makeup of the city is 44.66% White, 26.59% Black or African American, 0.52% Native American, 9.83% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 13.42% from other races, and 4.92% from two or more races. 26.98% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
35.9% of the population is foreign born (18.9% born in Latin America, 8.6% Asia, 7.0% Europe).
There are 3,021,588 households out of which 29.7% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.2% are married couples living together, 19.1% have a female householder with no husband present, and 38.7% are non-families. 31.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.9% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.59 and the average family size is 3.32.
In the city the population is spread out with 24.2% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 32.9% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 90.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 85.9 males.
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