The murder took place in Manhattan on the Lower East Side, not Brooklyn. The victim lived in Brooklyn. She actually lived in a safe neighborhood Greenpoint. But she chose to party on the Lower East Side which is full of projects and public housing, and is a hunting ground for thugs looking to rob drunk white liberals.
OK guys, I got your correction. My mistake, it was the lower east side, not Brooklyn. However, from my days visiting starving artist buddies from college in Alphabet City, you can stray one block over there and find yourself in no-man's land.
Its essentially the same as parts of Williamsburg in Brooklyn. Gentrification next to trepidation. I can take care of my own, and even I knew that straying off the avenues over there at night (if you had to be there at all), was not a good idea. This was only two years ago, so I can't imagine all that much has changed.