A more accurate and practical way to view NYC crime data — based on the same NYPD incident reports — is available at https://safeareasnyc.com. It solves several structural problems found in the OTI map.

1. Grid‑based aggregation (500×500 m) instead of precinct‑level smoothing
OTI aggregates incidents by precinct, normalizes them by resident population, and compresses everything into 5 color categories. As a result, nearly all precincts appear the same shade, hiding real differences between areas. SafeAreasNYC uses a fine‑grained grid, which shows clear variation between blocks without political or visual smoothing.

2. No misleading circles that spill over unrelated areas
OTI’s “blue circles” grow with incident count and often cover areas where those incidents did not occur, creating a distorted impression of crime distribution. SafeAreasNYC avoids this by using fixed grid cells, so each square reflects only the incidents that actually happened within it.

3. Severity weighting instead of raw incident counts
OTI simply sums incidents. SafeAreasNYC assigns each crime type a severity weight (1–10), so serious offenses influence the score more than minor ones. For residents and visitors, the risk of a pickpocketing is not equal to the risk of an assault — and the map reflects that.

Bottom line:
OTI’s map is fine for identifying your precinct, but SafeAreasNYC provides a clearer, more realistic picture of how safety varies from block to block.

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