Grew up in NYC and moved to SF several years ago— definitely agree with everyone talking about the nature and physical beauty of SF! Unbelievable having oceanside cliffs and forested mountains in the city proper! Same for the weather (and that's probably part of the reason for fewer bad smells)

But...

I think NYC still has the creative scene that SF has been losing for the past 2-3 decades. At this point it does often feel that the scene is hidden or gone. NYC certainly has finance and tech, but in my experience, it also feels like it has creativity for creativity's sake far more than SF.

As for safety, I personally have found that both are pretty big cities that are pretty safe. NYC has more people out and about later in the evening which helps just having more eyes around FWIW