1st

safest for all crime

great kills & tottenville

Annandale, Arden Heights, Bay Terrace, Charleston, Eltingville, Greenridge, Huguenot, Pleasant Plains, Prince's Bay, Richmond Valley, Rossville, Woodrow

Photo: Tiphanie Colon-Lamontanaro

123rd precinct / population 98,032

These leafy bedroom communities are about as far away from urban life as you can get and still be living in New York City. Located on the southernmost section of Staten Island, with Tottenville at the tip, people who live here gripe that they have one of the longest commuter drives in the city, taking up to 90 minutes just to get to Manhattan.

Situated along the water, and tracing its history back to the 1800s, Great Kills witnessed a flourish of residential construction in the late 1980s and 90s. Predominantly white and well-heeled, residents live on streets of manicured single-family homes and townhouses in these quiet neighborhoods. The per capita income is among the highest of any neighborhood in the city, which could account for the extremely low crime rates in the 123rd Precinct, which covers the area.

There is something else the neighborhoods can boast about — this politically conservative area is No. 1 in private, licensed gun ownership in the city.

Most reported crimes involve property, such as car thefts, vandalism or graffiti. There were 371 crimes reported in this precinct in 2010, 297 of which were burglaries, grand larceny or stolen cars. Two people were murdered in 2010 — the parents of Eric Bellucci (see crime breakout, below). Just one murder occurred in 2009. In 2010, reported rapes dropped from four to two, with robberies down 37 percent, from 35 to 22.

There are no crimes waves. Residents are more likely to be mugged by kids looking for money to buy Oxycodone than anything else — Staten Island has one of the highest rates of opioid analgesic usage in the city. Still, if it gets any safer, residents won't even know they live in New York.