New York City Population Put Into Perspective

New York City is the largest city in the US, with a population more than LA and Chicago (the next two most populated US cities) combined. NYC is the cultural hub of the US, historically for Ellis Island and currently for the UN Headquarters, is home of the largest Asian population in the Western Hemisphere, and the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, just to name a few. In addition to being culturally diverse, it holds the world’s financial center with the NYSE and Wall Street.

Tourism is huge in NYC. There are 50.9 million visitors to the city annually. With tourist spots like Times Square commonly referred to as The Crossroads of the World, Broadway as one of the busiest intersections for pedestrians, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, and Central Park as one of the most visited parks in the US, it’s no wonder the city draws 40.3 million domestic visitors and 10.6 international visitors throughout the year.

Some think the crime rate in NYC is rather high, however if you put population into perspective, the amount of crime in the city seems relative to the population. The population density of NYC is one of the most densely populated cities in the world with 27,550 people per square mile. Manhattan itself has a density of 66,940 per square mile!

NYPD recently rolled out with their NYC crime map. It shows crimes incident information and crime density by precinct. 

An alternative and perhaps more effective method to map the crime would be with 3D or 2D crime mapping. This may be level of detail that New York needs because of density issues.

New York could add a crimes by floor feature to their map. Or, since the population and crime is so dense, over short periods of time, they could add something like an augmented reality street view of crimes. You point your smartphone at a building or street to see the crime in your immediate area. Talk about a really cool Google Glass app.

Check out the infographic for more information on NYC’s crazy population. And if you want to see crimes on NYC, head to SpotCrime. Don't forget to sign up for your local crime alerts. Stay aware, stay safe.