Hi Everyone, I do not know if this question has been answered, I sort of looked through and the ones I saw did not help a lot. I was wondering if you could tell me if the area in Harlem on 116th st Between 1st and 2nd is a safe area. My husband and I are moving to NYC on August 15th and we aren't having much luck in the apartment area. We found a nice one but that is where it is and we would like to be pretty safe as it is just us and we are both young. Please let me know ASAP! Thanks so much.

I personally wouldn't feel comfortable living there, but that's just me. I'd strongly suggest walking around any building/neighborhood (during the day and at night) to get a feel for the area before signing a lease.

Do another search on this site. There is a long thread titled "Safe Areas in Manhattan" that debates the pros and cons of East Harlem.

That area is referred to as East harlem and it is predominantly Hispanic. This used to be a heavily populated Italian area and there is still a pocket of Italian Americans living in the area. A negative is it is a long walk to the subway on Lexington Avenue. 116th Street is a major shopping Street so there are always lots of people around day and night.

Thank you everyone for the quick responses, I know that the subway is at Lex and 116th. Please keep the responses coming, they are greatly greatly needed and appreciated!!!!

Just want to move you above the spam area

I would say the area is probably more noisey and busy than others. Don't be surprised if people are hanging out all night as that's the norm.

What about the outer boros? Everyone wants to live in Manhattan for reasons I'll never get. But there are places just as close & the rent is half that of what you'd pay in Manhattan.

Where is your husband going to be working? Will he work late at night? Will you be working too?

Since there is no new apartment building construction in the immediate area you are probably looking at a 4 or 5 story walkup older tenement building. I would not make a commitment until you see the apartment. The only hi-rise apartment buildings in the area are city projects. .

The island of Manhattan has a cachet for out of towners who have no idea - none! - that half of it lies north of 96th Street. You have to get into the geographical mindset promoted by out of town media, which I run into a lot on the Lonely Planet bulletin boards. Australians are the worst with this, probably because they live so far away.

* There is one area called "Central New York" which is sort of Midtown and Wall Street smushed together. You can walk between Times Square and Wall Street.

* Surrounding that area on various sides are Chelsea, SoHo, Chinatown, Greenwich Village (or just "Greenwich," if you're abbreviating) and Little Italy, which is somehow a ten-block-square expanse of actual Italianness.

* Midtown South, East Midtown, Murray Hill, Gramercy don't exist.

* Morningside Heights and Harlem are at the very extreme edge of Manhattan, up near the Bronx. They are the last neighborhoods in Manhattan.

* Washington Heights REALLY doesn't exist. Or, if it exists, it's a tiny little bit of Harlem. Ten blocks long at the most.

* Brooklyn is a schlep, but a manageable one. Brooklyn Heights and Williamsburg are sort of about the distance from Midtown that Park Slope really is.

* Queens starts around Islip. You need to take a commuter train.

Okay, so now that I'm done mocking the Australians ...

I would strongly advise against new, young, white out of towners moving to 116th and 1st. That is still a rough area, with crime issues, and the buildings are by and large poorly kept up. This can be debated, but there are SO MANY other nicer neighborhoods to move to in Brooklyn and Queens that I can't see why this needs to be an option.

Red I'll agree with you about Australians, many don't realise that New York state and New York city are not the same thing. What you have to realise though is that our cities cover much bigger areas geographically than New York but with fewer people. For instance Sydney has 4 million people in an area that you could probably fit 3 New York citys and New York state has the same population as all of Australia.

Red, I may have to revoke your visa. Waddya mean, "just Greenwich?"

The only Italians in Little Italy these days are restaurant owners. Even the buildings are mostly owned by Chinese. I stopped thinking of the area as Italian about 40 years ago.

Oracle, I'm serious. I deal with British and Australian tourists from time to time who ask about "hotels in Greenwich" and "where can I stay in Greenwich?" and when I point them to Connecticut, they say, "I thought it was a neighborhood in central Manhatten (sic)"

The total incomprehension of the disappearance of Little Italy seems to be global. We need to start a campaign - "Little Italy: It's Dead!"

I have spoken to some Australians recently who visited New York and and loved it but were totally unsure of where they stayed. I really don't understand it as I think it is the easiest city in the world to find your way around because of the numbering of the streets and avenues. I guess I have to learn to understand that most of my countrymen are simple folk. I don't quite understand it with the English though.

The south end of Little Italy is virtually Chinese and the Australians are taking over the north end in Nolita. Mulberry Street between Spring and Prince has a number of Australian businesses as well as Australians owning buildings. They even get press back here in Oz. Oracle, Kennedy and Kelly you all came to 8 Mile Creek with me over 2 years ago and there was already Ruby's across the road and now there are even more. In summer it is not unusual to find street cricket happening in Mulberry St.