I've been in NYC for the past year; I've found the city very friendly!! The people are great AND I've walked the Bronx, Harlem and Brooklyn till late nights and have never felt threatened.
Its no India but if you walk through the subways, you're probably seeing a "little" india at EVERY station.
Its a fun fun city -> And we should learn how to manage running big cities from NYC's example!!!
Its one of the safest cities : Shocking since Its one of the largest cities in the western hemisphere and has a large African-american population (not being racist et al, but it seems where ever afro amricans are in big numbers, that area is usually pretty messed up)!! Not so in NYC!!!