Living in the city is not for softies.
We have a whole cavalcade of challenges to face daily-- we have to shove our way to the front of the turnstile lines in the subway, jostle our way onto trains, and get ourselves into a position to be city ballers every day.
We have to do all this while facing down perilous city dangers.
No, we really can't walk on those street doors even though they're often really impeding our path. Yes, we can be killed by a biker while walking across the street.
It's not medieval times, but it's certainly its own type of war zone. Read on to discover the ways New Yorkers face down death every day.
1. Hit by falling air conditioner
Every average New Yorker has self-installed an air conditioner. Because most of us aren't air conditioning experts, plenty of us do shoddy installation jobs.
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However, The Village Voice reported that although there are plenty of people who reported injuries from air conditioners (one in 2006 on 104th Street, and another one that hit 64-year-old Anthony Frazese who sued for $21 million) there are zero confirmed cases of death by air conditioner in New York City.
So if you're giving yourself an ulcer stressing about this particular cause of death, don't.
2. Falling through sidewalk door
Do you often walk around the doors in the sidewalk to avoid stepping on them? If you don't, maybe you should.
In January, a man in his 30s fell through the doors on the sidewalk and plunged to his death on Bedford Avenue near Herkimer Street, according to the New York Daily News.
The city received 40 defective sidewalk door complaints in 2014, and 19 so far in 2015, according to 311 data.
City laws hold property owners responsible for keeping these doors stable, but this didn't stop a 10-year-old boy from falling through the doors of a vacant restaurant near Morningside Heights in 2009.
As far as statistics go-- this is not the most likely death in NYC.
There is no public record of how many people fall through cellar doors each year, but based on how many people trudge over these doors every day compared to many accidents are listed online, you are much more likely to be hit and killed by a taxi.
Still, avoiding walking on these doors might be wise.
3. Get hit by car
Tragically, 9-year-old Cooper Stock was struck and killed by a taxi while he was holding his father's hand on the Upper West Side in 2014.
Twenty-four-year-old Sian Green was hit by a taxi near Rockefeller Center in 2013 while she was eating ice cream with a friend. She lost her leg as a result.
According to NYC.gov, being hit by a car is the leading cause of death for children under 14 in NYC, and the second leading cause of death for seniors.
NYC.gov also reported that vehicles seriously injure or kill a New Yorker every two hours. NY Times reported that someone is killed while walking in NYC just about every week.
Mayor Bill de Blasio made improving pedestrian safety at the top of his list of priorities when he became mayor with his Vision Zero plan. The mission of Vision Zero is to protect the public, by using every tool at the city's disposal to improve the safety of the streets.
Traffic fatalities have seen serious declines in recent years. There were 701 in 1990, 381 in 2000, and an all-time low of 249 in 2011.
4. Fatally injured in a brawl
The good news is that homicides in NYC have fallen to a record low. Homicides have fallen 17.5% in NYC since 1998.
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If we go all the way back to 1993, homicides have fallen a much more striking 73.2 percent, according to The New York Times. We still wouldn't recommend seeking out a bar fight though.
5. Gone fishing
Didn't expect to see this on the list, did you?
More people have died from fishing in NYC than they have from fallen air conditioners. So, it deserves its spot on this list.
,6. Drown
Do not swim in NYC's rivers, no matter how appetizing they start to look and no matter how hot the summer gets.
The currents are strong, the speed boats are plentiful. The bottom line is that swimming in the rivers is not safe.
Fourteen New Yorkers drowned in NYC's rivers in 2007.
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"When people ask me if it's O.K. to swim in the East River, my question to them is, 'Are you an Olympic swimmer?'" Beau Ranheim, Chief of the Marine Sciences at the city's Department of Environmental Protection, stated.
NYC's rivers can run as fast as four knots, which is fast enough to drown most casual swimmers.
The NY Times reported that a few people drown in NYC's rivers each year.
7. Hit by car while biking
This actually isn't as dangerous as we expected, despite the ghost bikes peppered throughout the city, which were installed as a Street Memorial project to honor cyclists and pedestrians that have been killed on NYC's streets.
The project's aim is to initiate a change in culture that fosters mutual respect among all people who share the streets.
Their campaign has seen progress. The New York Times reported a boom in commuters who bike to work since 2007, and yet a decrease in people who've been killed biking.
In 2007, 29 people died while biking in NYC and in 2009, that number decreased to 23. The city has also added 225 miles of bike lanes since 2006, which effectively doubled the number of bike routes.
Bikers aren't just victims, though. In 2014 59-year-old Jill Tarlov was catastrophically killed while shopping for her daughter's birthday present when she was struck by a biker in Central Park.
8. The subway
The rate of people who've been killed by NYC subways has unfortunately seen an increase since 2008, according to NY Magazine.
Thirty-four people were killed by the NYC subway in 2008, while that number reached 55 in 2012 until returning to 34 in 2015.
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The majority of these deaths are suicides, though two people were pushed onto subway tracks and died in 2012.
So, you should definitely listen when the subway conductor tells you to watch the gap between the platform and the train.
9. Hit by a bus
Have you ever been waiting on the side of the street, been flashed the walk signal, and then crossed the street even though the intersection was congested with traffic in the crosswalk?
In February, the NY Daily News reported a 15-year-old girl was seriously injured in Brooklyn after she was hit by a bus while she had the walk signal.
She reportedly grabbed her father's hand and said, "Dad I felt pieces of my ripped up leg."
The driver was arrested and given a desk appearance ticket, which infuriated union officials so much they threatened a driver work slowdown.
"We're driving for a living on the busiest streets in America. The law of averages has it we're going to get into an accident," J.P. Patafio of Trasport Workers Union Local 100 stated.
Check out 10 Moments Subway Wi-Fi Saved a New Yorker's Life.