Question About Safety in NYC

Hey all.

My apologies ahead of time to anybody living in NYC, my intentions are not to stereotype. I'm just curious to how things have changed since I was there in 2013.

My wife and I will be in NYC in a couple of weeks. I live in Toronto, CA and I take public transit everywhere. I've been to NYC before, as well as other big cities in the US and I've taken the subway in NYC when I was there. I've never felt threatened or in danger getting around either here in Toronto or in other cities I've been to, including NYC. I'm not trying to say public transit is dangerous. I'm just saying that I haven't felt like I need to take a taxi/Uber everywhere, which is a safer option of travel, and I've never felt in danger when being in these major cities.

I told a friend we're going to NYC this summer and they said it isn't as safe as it used to be and they wouldn't dare take public transit if they were going there. I was also planning on bringing my Rolex Hulk and I was going to purchase an Omega Seamaster 300M. Omega's price difference between CAD and USD is not on par and favours buying in USD... weird. So, my question is is it safe to go out into public with a nice watch on and/or take the subway to get around? I would be staying in Union City and touring the hot spots like Manhattan and Brooklyn.

I am willing to leave my Hulk at home and just take a $20 Casio that I will wear as a beater watch. I can also conceal the Omega purchase when I leave the boutique and head back to our accommodations and not wear the Omega while I'm there. I'm just curious if that level of precaution is necessary based on what my friend said. Cheers!

That’s what I was hoping for

The pandemic has caused crime to increase in many places around the world. Crime is up in your city and crime is up in NYC. However this increase comes after about 30 years of decrease. Crime fell in NYC between your last visit and the current increase. Across several of the major categories NYC is safer now than it was when you last visited in 2013.

Lol I agree. I’m out for a walk right now.

I live in Paris and one of my colleagues who also lives in Paris was followed out of a very safe train station, in one of the most affluent neighborhoods of Paris, and mugged by 4 guys who went after his very unassuming steel DateJust or Oysterdate. Didn’t even have a fluted bezel.
I had noticed his watch - he later posted something on social networks about 4 guys following him to steal his watch by force. Thankfully he wasn’t hurt and was very smart not to fight for it.

The bottom line is, you’re carrying in the street or the train something worth 5 to 15k euros/ dollars or GBP - in a troubled world with people struggling you’re a walking target, even in your own city where you know the lay of the land.

Of course this doesn’t answer anything about NYC or give any reliable stats but I wouldn’t want to be the one occurrence.

I believe wearing any brand other than Rolex would be much safer, since Rolex is the most recognizable brand in the world! But often fakes are so good you can't tell if they are real until you open them. Not sure if criminals care less now to rob someone or not because of this.