Some FReepers love NYC and insist that it is a safe place; I just don’t see it - and I live a dozen miles west of there. The problem is no matter how ritzy your place, the mutants are a subway ride away. Thankfully I have rivers separating me from NYC, as well as neighboring Newark and Jersey City on the NJ side - natural moats with limited access points.
Rivers as natural moats. That is an interesting take on your location.
Around here the waterways are normally dry. :<(
I'm one of them. I moved to the area a couple years ago and have offices in both Manhattan and Queens (Long Island City). I feel completely safe in the city, day or night. The subway runs 24 hours a day, is well lit and I've never had cause to feel unsafe there either.
But I do realize that if the police didn't have such a presence, it would be a completely different world.