New Castle Among Safest Communities In America For 2017

CHAPPAQUA, NY — New Castle was one of nine Hudson Valley communities named to the 100 Safest Cities in America list prepared by the SafeWise Report. The team at SafeWise analyzed FBI crime statistics from all 50 states and researched each city's public safety, public health and educational offerings to determine 2017’s list.

In fact, eastern Westchester seems to be a pretty safe place, according to this list. For the second year in a row, Lewisboro was named the No. 1 Safest City in America. Bedford, Harrison, New Castle and North Castle also made it into the Top 100 along with Sleepy Hollow. Two Putnam County towns also made the national list.

All of the communities have a population of at least 10,000 in order to be considered.

Here's what the study said about New Castle:

Founded in 1791, New Castle, New York, has made news for being home to the Clintons, but now it’s making headlines for its own achievements: its place as the seventeenth Safest City in America. With less than sixty reported violent and property crimes in 2015, people remain free to enjoy all there is to offer in town, like vibrant Downtown Chappaqua Hamlet, which is even more beautiful today thanks to the revitalization project. Among some of the improvements are a more walkable infrastructure to encourage exercise and keep pedestrians safe, preserved green spaces for a healthier environment, and historic buildings to maintain the charm and character of this historic town.

SafeWise Security Analyst Olga Papadimitriou said, “There is a lot that the nation can learn about community policing, the walkability of safe streets and collaboration between police and neighborhood watch programs to help improve the safety of our cities.”

The Hudson Valley communities on the 100 Safest Cities in America list are:

• 1 Lewisboro
• 13 Rye
• 17 New Castle
• 35 Kent
• 50 Harrison
• 51 Sleepy Hollow
• 76 Bedford
• 80 Carmel
• 98 North Castle

See the complete list of 100 Safest Cities here.

[Get Patch’s Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts here.]

Image via Shutterstock.