Are you from some kind of 70's hollywood conception of NYC? This city
really isn't some kind of Red Dawn dystopian landscape where everyone is
running around with sawed-off shotguns. This is an unnecessary level of
fear for this city. Morningside heights (where the venue is) is a
relatively safe neighborhood. People are out all night long. The 1 line
From columbia to the village is one of the safest subway lines in the
city, you can take it at 3am by yourself and it will seem like it is 2
in the afternoon because there are so many people around.
No, not really.. Though I'll admit my knowledge of NYC is limited, I have been tricked into giving people money in the streets before.. Some guy convinced me he was a Taxi driver on a smoke (pointed down the street to a Taxi waiting) and said I could buy a Metro Card off of him and take me wherever I needed to go... I had just came out of Penn Station with a backpack and pulling my luggage.. Plenty of people around and they didn't seem to pay any attention to him or me so it seemed pretty normal.. So yea, he took my money for a Metro card, walked over to where the Taxi was but then I saw he wasn't the driver.. He then hopped in and took the ride out of there himself and waved from the window.. Kind of funny in retrospect, but yea, I tend to be more cautious because things like that tend to find me pretty easily...
Perhaps just my lack of travel experience to blame, or perhaps just really horrible luck.. I'm not saying NYC is unsafe.. I'm just saying, I lost money in broad daylight with tons of people around, and so I tend to be strongly on the side of caution.... Even if my post helps one person, I'll be happy.