A New Yorker With A Few Questions

[esllou]

couple of tips I've learnt after a year:

1. If you turn into a street (abracadabra!!) and you just have a bad gut feeling, turn back. Instinct will help you a lot.

2. If anyone comes up to you and talk about something on you, that you're wet, that a bird has pooped on you, anything like that...say you'll check it later and walk away. This is equally applicable if the person talking to you is 13 or 113.

3. When sitting outside a cafe/bar with a bag/pack on the ground, put your leg through one of the straps.

 

[wreReynolds]

I have been robbed three times in the street (in just 14 months) but also had my passport returned by a nice policeman (yes, they exist) who found it on the street. But be careful. I never carry all my debt/credit cards at once, I tend to leave some at home so if the worst happens I am not without mony.
As for accomodation, I live in great enormous apartment shared with 6 people right in front of the subway near Congreso - there is a free room. If you PM me, I can put you in touch with the owner.
Good luck. It's great city, but petty crime is a real problem.
Richard

 

[vanessa]

In my opinion crime here isnt too bad. Let's face it, this is a huge city so all the same rules of being street smart in a city applies. I lived in Los Angeles before this and while petty theft seems worse here to me, try driving in a city where many people have guns under their front seat. Be smart, dont be flashy, thats good advice. But I am more scared of being shot in the face in big cities in the states than here. I have never been robbed in the 4 and a half years I lived here, but have been in a restaurant in West Los Angeles that was robbed by gunpoint.

Just be smart, but dont feel you have to live in fear. My boyfriend was in Queens one day visiting his cousin (he's from LA so not a local) and some kids (around 13 years old) tried to rob him in the subway station. So dont think BsAs is worse than NYC.

Pizza sucks here but Piola is pretty good. It is Italian style not Argentine. Filo is good too but their service sucks. Here is a restaurant guide. Like yelp.com (if you are familar with it) but only restaurants. http://guiaoleo.com.ar/

Oh and ssr is right. Never hand a cab driver a large bill. Always have change. If I have a 100 pesos I use it (even if I have change) at the large grocery stores (Disco, Coto, Jumbo, Carrefour) even if I am buying something that is 5 pesos and I have change. Good to have change for cabs.

 

[vr236]

Don’t walk down isolated streets and hold your purse in front of you. Pickpockets are quick and very professional. You won’t know your wallet is missing until you get home or you try to pay for that pair of shoes you fell in love with. BA is not as safe as NY but as long as you blend in you won’t have a problem. I’ve been back from NY for almost 3 years and have not had a problem yet. Also, if you date any Argentines they don’t seem to understand the word NO. So be firm, or just walk away. The norm is no friendship between men and women, although there are exceptions. Good luck and enjoy your stay!

 

[InjuredBadly]

The crime is ramped and they can be vicious they are armed now more so than ever. Even if you do not wear any jewelry they will steal whatever they can get their hands on. A Peruvian woman told me “if you see some guy that are short dark, and round face they are Peruvian and 99% of the time they will be thieves”. Do not ever order deliveries from flyers; it is their way to get into your property.

 

[SaraSara]

On the sidewalk, hug the wall - bike thieves will have a harder time reaching you and may move on to an easier victim. Keep your bag on the wall side, too.

 

[nychick]

I am a native new yorker. born and raised in manhattan. now i live in palermo. The rules are the same. dont be stupid. dont be flashy. dont draw unwarranted attention to yourself. dont walk down dark alleys at night. While it is true the ny of my childhood was a much more dangerous place than it is now, you still need to be smart in NY. and you need to be smart here. I feel no more or less safe in buenos aires than i do in new york or paris or rome or london.. or any international metropolis. There are good parts of town, bad parts of town and places you should NEVER go at night.
Send me a private message. I may have a lead on an apartment..
Wendy

 

[orwellian]

The crime is ramped and they can be vicious they are armed now more so than ever. Even if you do not wear any jewelry they will steal whatever they can get their hands on. A Peruvian woman told me “if you see some guy that are short dark, and round face they are Peruvian and 99% of the time they will be thieves”. Do not ever order deliveries from flyers; it is their way to get into your property.

Posting the same racist crap in different threads are we?

 

[ssr]

A Peruvian woman told me “if you see some guy that are short dark, and round face they are Peruvian and 99% of the time they will be thieves”. Do not ever order deliveries from flyers; it is their way to get into your property.

I guess you're not the one being racist if you can say "A Peruvian woman told me...", right InjuredBadly?

Anyway, I've never had a problem ordering from flyers/delivery menus or ever heard of a single person who ran into a problem doing so. How else is some delivery business going to advertise themselves? I have a big stack of menus here just like I used to have in NYC before MenuPages.com. One difference here, though, is that prices get outdated quick because of the outrageous inflation. Delivery menus here probably have about a three month shelf life.

 

[Santiago]

Come on, what's wrong with our pizza?? I have never tried pizza abroad, but I even enjoyed the crappiest, cheapest pizzas I have tasted. If you love pizza, you love pizza.
And of course, there is a wide range of pizza quality. Delivery pizza will rarely be the best, but it is for the most part very acceptable for me. You'll most likely find good pizza on old classic restaurants, look for "pizza a la piedra" and such.
I've been told that the best pizza in town is to be found here: http://www.pizzeria-guerrin.com.ar

Crime is a big deal here, but as many pointed out, if you are street smart you'll be fine. You just have to be careful, not paranoid. I've lived here all my life and I have been robbed on the street only once years ago (and I even managed to negotiate with the thiefs), been more careful ever since and so far I avoided trouble.
That peruvian thing is just crap, don't believe it. Peruvians here are for the most part exploited workers, but I would say they are honest people for the most part (as most hard-working people usually are). I have never ever heard such thing here as any kind of theft that involved peruvian criminals.