New York: Not Just the Best, But the Safest, Too

New Yorkers, tourists to this fair city, and hawkers of New York-themed merchandise now have another reason to gloat: New York is not simply the coolest big city in the country, but now it’s also the safest.
Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly announced yesterday that New York is the safest large city in the U.S. Their findings are based on the Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report, released yesterday by the FBI. The report covers the first six months of 2009, and shows that the violent crime in New York fell by eight percent, a larger decline than the national average. In addition, property crime fell by six percent during the first six months of the year.
The news is not only encouraging, but somewhat surprising, considering the state of the economy and the almost-always rise in crime that occurs in a downturn.
Other safe cities out of the 25 largest cities in the country included in the index? Several in California made the list: Los Angeles (really?); San Jose, and San Diego, as well as Los Vegas, Dallas, Houston, and others.
Out of 253 cities in the United States with populations of more than 100,000 people, New York’s crime rate ranks it 241st-but when you consider that the city falls between Amherst, New York and Sunnyvale, California, that doesn't seem so terrible.
Go forth into the Big Apple and celebrate!