Siena poll: New Yorkers are still worried about crime

The issue of crime and public safety helped fuel a red wave in New York in 2021 and aided Republicans in flipping several key House seats last year – and New Yorkers still don’t seem to feel safe.

According to a new Siena College poll, a vast majority of New Yorkers – 87% – consider crime to be a very or somewhat serious issue. That includes 82% of Democrats polled. Sixty-one percent of respondents said they were also somewhat or very concerned about personally being a victim of a crime. That tracks with the 57% of New Yorkers who said crime is a problem in their own community. Those numbers increase among New York City residents, with 70% saying they’re worried they’ll be a crime victim and that crime is a major issue in their community.

The poll was conducted from June 4 through 12, with 382 respondents being interviewed by phone and 420 in an online panel. The results have a margin of error of 3.7%.

Major crimes in New York City are still among the lowest they have been in decades, even if the past few years have seen a few spikes in shootings, robberies and the like. Still, 39% of city residents polled said they have never been more worried about crime than they are right now. That’s slightly higher than the suburbs, though still considerably less than upstate, where the number sits at 46%.

What’s more, about half those polled said they don’t feel safe in public places, and over a third said they have felt threatened by the behavior of a stranger in the past year. Again, those numbers are higher in New York City compared to the suburbs and upstate. 

Feelings of perceived safety came to a head with the killing of Jordan Neely, a homeless street performer who was choked to death by a fellow straphanger after yelling at people on the subway. His murder sparked outrage and protests. The accused killer, Jordan Penny, has claimed he acted the way he did out of self defense as he and others on the train felt threatened by Neely’s behavior.

Asked about actual crime, 9% of those surveyed said they have been the victim of a burglary or been assaulted in the past year. But those numbers jumped up in New York City, with 16% saying they experienced one or the other. That’s significantly more than the 3% of upstaters who said they were assaulted or 6% of suburbanites who said they’ve been burgled. 

The poll results come as Democrats are making plans on how to win back the House next year, with $45 million getting funneled into New York to flip back a number of seats on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley. Many candidates ran on abortion rights last year, but it did not deliver the same results as in other parts of the country where Democrats performed well. Next year, abortion rights will be on the ballot directly as a state constitutional amendment, which some Democrats hope will motivate more people to head to the polls.