Interactive maps of New York City are awesome. There is hardly a better way to understand information about the City's different nooks and crannies. 

Wonder if anyone's been killed on your corner? Look at an interactive Death Map.

If you're trying to rent an apartment and want to optimize your dollar and commute, you can take a look at Teleport, which could save you a lot of frustration in the search process for the best place for you.

Now the City has created a NYC Crime Map, and it'll show you crime data for each 'hood based on your search parameters. Wonder how safe your neighborhood really is Check it out. 

It includes the ability to generate charts, and also allows you to zero in on certain types of crime.

If you're only looking for, say, murder statistics laid out in a easy to read map, there's hardly a better source of information as it's updated every two months or so.

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You can also search for "major crimes" at once, like murder, robbery, felony assault, grand larceny, and grand larceny of a motor vehicle. 

Statistics can be viewed for a given month, year to date, or most recently, allowing for a reasonably detailed search of major crimes across the city.

So if you're paranoid, or just concerned, take a look. For some, it might be a little too close to the first time you Googled "sex offenders" near your address. 

You may want to get another lock on your door, or some mace. Most likely, if you live in a dangerous place, you already knew that. But now you can see which neighborhoods aren't as hard...

Check out 8 Gifts to Get Real New Yorkers This Holiday Season. 

[via Viewing NYC] [Feature Image Courtesy NYC.gov]