NYC Vacation=Lack of CCW

I've been going to NYC since the 50s. I lived most of my life within 90 minutes or less to Mid-Town Manhattan. I've worked there as a LEO in some horrible neighborhoods. It's not the NYC of the 70s, 80s, and early 90s. There's a lot of negative things one might say about Giuliani but he did a good job of cleaning up the city in his 8 years and it's pretty much stayed that way.

NYC doesn't make the 100 most dangerous cities list any more. You want more dangerous? Go to Baltimore, Philadelphia, DC. But even there you're pretty safe if you use your head. Stay in the tourist areas. If your head says I probably don't belong here you probably don't. Don't book an Airbnb in the South Bronx or Washington Heights.

Go to the landmarks and museums. The Cloisters one of my favorites and something you don't think you'll find in NYC. Go to the Cloisters in the morning and the same id badge will get you in the Metropolitan the same day. Eat in Little Italy and Chinatown. Go to Katz's Deli on Houston Street and go to the Tenement Museum nearby and learn what life was like for millions of immigrants that built this country. It all wasn't hunting, trapping, covered wagons and fighting Indians.

If you want dangerous cross the river into NJ and go to Newark or Camden. Orlando has a higher crime rate than NYC. So do places like Wheeling, WV and Florence, SC.

BTW don't buy NYC museum tickets on line. Most museums have a "suggested" admission price but if buy your tickets there they will accept anything you want to pay. They're "pay what you want but you must pay sonething".

It's all about how you carry yourself. Walked alone down the main drag Buffalo, NY(they roll the sidewalks up at 1730 week nights.) when I was about 13 or less(not recently.). Nobody bothered me, but a guy asked me if I wanted to buy a diamond. Stolen man's ring. The guy said something rude and just walked on when I told him I had $2 to my name.
"...Are you flying or driving?..." Doesn't matter. NYC has it's own very restrictive firearms laws. It's nothing to do with long guns either.

JTHunter said:

In 1964, my parents took us on a family vacation to see the World's Fair. Being a pre-teen, there wasn't much outside the Fair to draw my attention or interest. Any of you remember "automats"?
Nothing can draw me back to NYC as things stand now.

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Yep.

Horne and Hardart was a huge automat in NYC.

If I can't protect me and my family's life I just don't go there. Simple.

It is kind of funny, but you are from Illinois, and that is the same feeling I get about going to Chicago with the family. I find an excuse, and just don't go, as discussions have come up, for seeing some of the sites or taking in a Bears-Packers game, but to me... not worth it.

Jimster said:

Flying. I'm used to flying into Phoenix or Vegas for business but haven't flown to NYC since I was about 11 (1974ish).

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To put things in perspective you're more familiar with Phoenix and Las Vegas have about twice the overall crime rate and murder rate as NYC. The violent crime rate in NY is about the same as Phoenix and a bit less than half of Vegas.

Yes I realize anyone can carry in AZ and NV recognizes a lot of out of state permits. Don't think of driving in NY. You'll spend hundreds for parking. Public transportation (pretty safe) and taxis take you everywhere you need to go as a tourist.

Situational awareness and attitude are the most important weapons. They keep us out of more trouble so we don't need to use guns, knives, or swords.

A few of you have mentioned carrying pocket knives in NYC. Be aware that any pocket knife that can open by flipping will get you in deep do-do. Carry something small and hard to open.

HR218 LEOSA...life is good.

But, it sucks that there is no national reciprocity for non LE who have a CCW.

But hey, New York is safe as can be, they have gun control there and we all know places with gun control are safer (trying not to laugh here).

My New York City "approved" pistol.

While I recoil viscerally at visiting Illinois and Chicago, I must occasionally go there to see my mother.

When I'm there I look for alternate weapons. I wouldn't hesitate to use my mother's car as a weapon. If you try to carjack me, you're going to get run over and dragged.

When I pump gas there, if you attack me, I'm prepared to douse you in gasoline.

I carry an NRA LED pocket flashlight with a crennelated bezel, ideal for smashing into somebody's eye socket.

Given the rampant crime, the threat of "knife jihad" and the entwined ineptitude and corruption of the Chicago Police Department, I no longer go to large public spaces there with lots of people. Chicago is a jihadi massacre waiting to happen.

I always worry about going out to dinner or movies with my cousin when I'm there. She's extremely religious and WAY too nice for her own good. She engages with and gives money to bums. Any response to attack I have will be sudden, without warning and executed with the utmost force and violence until the threat is elminated. I have a genuine fear that were our lives to be put in danger, she'd end up trying to protect our assailant(s) from ME.

I try to avoid trouble, and avoiding places like NYC and Chicago is a big part of that. If I can't avoid being in such places I'm committed to doing WHATEVER it takes to survive, no matter how brutal or shocking.

Please don't worry about it. The city overall has a fairly low crime rate, and doubly so in the places you're likely to want to spend time. There are always people around. That's no barrier against a determined attacker, but the "mugged in a dark alleyway" problem is pretty unlikely. The chances that you will encounter a situation where you need a firearm are very small. After all, you'll only be there a short time.

And it's an amazing city. I would say you couldn't pay me enough to live there, but ~$10 million per year would probably convince me for a year or two. But it a great, great city to visit.

hdwhit said:

No.

I've walked through the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, alone, at 12:15 a.m. and both felt perfectly safe and was perfectly safe.

I traveled without a gun before there was widespread concealed carry legislation. After concealed carry became commonplace, I still traveled without a gun. I'm not going to stop traveling because the place I'm going doesn't allow concealed carry.

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This^^^^^^^.
I have lived most of my adult life in NYC (I am 70.) I have a NYC pistol permit. I have never carried a gun because it is against the law. I have NEVER felt threatened. I have NEVER been threatened.
There are many places way more dangerous than NYC; you may be living in one now.

Pete

Statistically, it is more likely that you would have an accident going to the airport rather than in NYC so I would go.

Like a lot of major cities, there are safe places and places that you should avoid. That can be true for relatively small cities as well or even some rural areas. That is also true that some places that are safe in the daytime are dangerous at night particularly in the wee hours. Foreknowledge of these places is forewarned so knowing where you are is important. Somewhere like tourist areas of Manhattan are safer than the French Quarter of New Orleans.

Additionally, you do not want to flag yourself as a tourist as some criminals particularly target tourists such as pickpockets, sob story handout artists, even some robbers. An air of confidence and appearing to know what you are doing and staying in the present with situational awareness works wonders in avoidance of unpleasant situations (avoiding phones, selfies, maps, and other distractions in semi-safe places). If you are really paranoid, take a throw down wallet with a few bucks cash and worthless expired visa/mastercard giftcards in it as a decoy for pick pockets and muggers while keeping your real stash in a hidden area.

If anyone out there wants my share of New York you can have it for free.

Zeke

Someone mentioned walking through Hell's Kitchen, and I had to laugh. You probably couldn't afford to live in Hell's Kitchen anymore, it's been gentrified. Along with many older "scary" places that aren't scary anymore. Alphabet City in the Lower East Side, forget it, priced astronomically. Same for Ft. Green, Williamsburg, and many other Brooklyn neighborhoods.

Unless you go looking for them, you won't be in any scary neighborhoods, certainly not midtown or lower Manhattan. The only robbery taking place there involves parking lot fees, cab fares, and theater tickets.

One must see attraction is the Metropolitan Museum of Art, AKA The Met. Aside from an amazing Arms and Armor section, a Tiffany section, a Frank Lloyd Wright section, the scope of paintings there is like no other. Think of the images in art books you had in college, now imagine seeing lots of them in person hanging on the walls. Any well known artist whose works you ever enjoyed and wanted to see in real life, from old masters to modern art, will be there.

Like nature? Be sure to see the Museum of Natural History. Most of the African animals there were donated by Teddy Roosevelt. How about having a life sized blue whale hanging over your head? Full sized real dinosaurs, lots of them. Don't miss the rocks, gems, and meteorite collection.

Like food? You'll find restaurants serving dishes from every part of the world there.

Again, missing the cultural attractions in NY is a loss for anyone. Did I mention the Statue of Liberty, Empire State building, and the free Staten Island Ferry?

Sheriff Bloomborg is on it

Jack B. said:

If I can't protect me and my family's life I just don't go there. Simple.

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That's no way to live. I assume you carry routinely where you live. Exactly how many times has your CC Gun saved your life? Often? Never? So you are willing to never expierence the great citys of the world because you can't carry? So you will never see the great pyramids, the castles of Europe, the Amazon rain forest because you can't carry? Thats a terrible restriction to put on your life- almost like being on parole.
By the way never join the military. They can't carry on base and depending on your base commander some times not off either.

jim in Anchorage said:

That's no way to live. I assume you carry routinely where you live. Exactly how many times has your CC Gun saved your life? Often? Never? So you are willing to never expierence the great citys of the world because you can't carry? So you will never see the great pyramids, the castles of Europe, the Amazon rain forest because you can't carry? Thats a terrible restriction to put on your life- almost like being on parole.
By the way never join the military. They can't carry on base and depending on your base commander some times not off either.

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If you want to risk your family so you can travel around then that's' your choice, my family is more important than a vacation. And my military history is not in question.

jim in Anchorage said:

That's no way to live. I assume you carry routinely where you live. Exactly how many times has your CC Gun saved your life? Often? Never? So you are willing to never expierence the great citys of the world because you can't carry? So you will never see the great pyramids, the castles of Europe, the Amazon rain forest because you can't carry? Thats a terrible restriction to put on your life- almost like being on parole.
By the way never join the military. They can't carry on base and depending on your base commander some times not off either.

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Yes it is.
Yes.
Zero in over 25 years, as it should be.
I'd be willing to never experience them again (big cities) even if I could carry.
I'm very happy going on vacation where there are not crowds and I can take guns & pets.
I took the pic while carrying (ideal vacation place); not having my rights taken away is not a restriction, the opposite.
Bulldog likes to vacation too.

WiTom said:

It is kind of funny, but you are from Illinois, and that is the same feeling I get about going to Chicago with the family. I find an excuse, and just don't go, as discussions have come up, for seeing some of the sites or taking in a Bears-Packers game, but to me... not worth it.

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Sorry
cocoa FL.

That's ok, as we live in the United States, and we still have a choice, as to where we want to live, and where we want to visit. I choose to visit places that I can defend my family from harm, and not depend on anyone else, as I take that serious, and my job. To question as to how many times I have needed my CC, I will counter that, and say, it only takes once, of not having your CC with you, to regret that dire choice forever. That is my choice, just as you have that same choice, every day that we wake up.