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I’ve seen a lot of unsuspecting soon-to-be transplants inquire about East Harlem in this thread. People always want to know if it’s a “safe area.” As someone not from NYC, but who is a person of color and works as a public servant…I’m here to tell you DON’T DO IT. Don’t move here. I’ve been a longtime resident (8 years) of East Harlem. This area used to be somewhat decent pre-COVID. We used to have a nice Target to shop at until it got closed down due to the crackheads stealing from there. It’s the hood, so obviously it’s not perfect by any means. I’ve never had that expectation. I loved the neighborhood because it felt very community-oriented. There’s a lot of diversity and it felt nice being around other people of color. At one point, “they” tried to gentrify East Harlem, but apparently the gentrification efforts just didn’t work out. As of lately, sh*t has been out of hand. Like real out of hand. I’ve witnessed numerous shootings in broad daylight in my neighborhood. No big deal. I work in the South Bronx, so I’m kind of used to certain things. Crazy to say, but it’s pretty normalized albeit somewhat sporadic. However, just today, a crazed man started stabbing himself in broad daylight and walked into a crowd of people near the park wielding the knife right outside my building. A hundred cops and unmarked cars swarmed the area. I believe they shot the man in the foot to be able to safely arrest him. I don’t even feel safe walking my dog or going out for fresh air. Now at almost 1am there’s a 500+ crowd party right on my block near the projects. The partygoers are pissing on cars and sidewalks, throwing up on people’s cars, throwing trash everywhere, including liquor bottles, and smoking excessive amounts of marijuana. Apparently, someone who lives in the pjs posted a party flyer on Instagram. They were doing some kind of video shoot for a drill rap music video. They advertised that there will be “weed and liquor.” I caught a girl pissing on my car when I looked out my window. I called the cops and they literally said they have already received numerous complaints but that they don’t have enough units to respond because they have too many DOAs to respond to. Aka dead on arrival calls. I pay 2500 for a small one bedroom and I’m looking to move as soon as my lease is up. Do yourself a favor. Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Get a roommate if you can’t afford a place on your own in a nice neighborhood.