"As of 2005, New York City has the lowest crime rate among the ten largest cities in the United States.[16] Since 1991, the city has seen a continuous fifteen-year trend of decreasing crime. Neighborhoods that were once considered dangerous are now much safer. Violent crime in the city has dropped by 75% in the last twelve years and the murder rate in 2005 was at its lowest level since 1963: there were 539 murders that year, for a murder rate of 6.58 per 100,000 people, compared to 2262 murders in 1990. Among the 182 U.S. cities with populations of more than 100,000, New York City ranked 136th in overall crime (with about the same crime rate as Boise, Idaho)."

That's from the Wikipedia entry for "Crime in New York City," which clearly paints NYC as a delightful, super-safe playground for families and young people. Violent crime is down 75 percent for the last 12 years! Oh my!

Still doesn't mean we aren't living in a cesspool of thefts, murders, burglaries, and rape.

Which is why SpotCrime.com is so much fun. A Google Map mash-up service – which bought the Google keyword for, among other search terms, "nyc crime rates" – handily plots assaults and shootings in near-ish real time.

Except at first glance, we thought the blue "man walking" icon, which represents theft, was a notification about jaywalking. And that would've been depressing.