Is Howard Beach Safe? Queens Livability, Crime & Rent
Howard Beach offers a distinctive living experience in Queens.
Howard Beach at a glance
- Borough
- Queens
- Livability score
- 4.5/10
- Borough rank
- #26 of 27
- Safety verdict
- Safer Than Average
- Crimes (12 mo)
- 1,251
- Median listing
- $0
- Subway stations
- 1 (Howard Beach-JFK Airport)
- Active listings
- 0
- Data updated
- 2026-04-18
Is Howard Beach Safe?
Howard Beach, Queens scores 4.5/10 for overall livability, ranking #26 of 27 Queens neighborhoods. Howard Beach offers a distinctive living experience in Queens.
This score aggregates live NYPD crime data, 311 safety complaints, shooting incidents, and building health signals within walking distance. Safety varies by block — check a specific Howard Beach address below for a block-level breakdown.
Score Overview
Vertical line = borough median. Scale: 0-10.
Neighborhood Character
Howard Beach is a neighborhood in Queens with its own distinct character and community.
Analysis based on 0 properties scored across 30+ data points
Livability & Restoration
Tree Canopy
84 trees
Avg within 200m | Density: 9.5/10
10 additional trees per block correlates with health benefits equivalent to being 7 years younger (Kardan et al., 2015)
Park Access
Gemini Fields
Avg 574m away | Score: 2.3/10
Living within 300m of green space associated with 30% fewer antidepressant prescriptions (Taylor et al., 2015)
Acoustic Quality
10/10
Noise proxy score (higher = quieter)
Chronic noise above 55 dB at night associated with 8% cardiovascular mortality increase (Basner et al., 2014)
Street Character
0/10
Enclosure: 0/10
What is the ART Score?
ART stands for Attention Restoration Theory (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989) — the framework environmental psychologists use to measure whether a place helps your brain recover from mental fatigue, or pushes it deeper into overload. Cities deplete directed attention (the effortful focus you use at work); exposure to restorative environments replenishes it.
We compute an ART score for every block by combining four signals: access to restorative zones (parks, museums, libraries), sensory load (nightlife and tourist density), street vitality (Jane Jacobs’ “eyes on the street”), and third places (Oldenburg’s informal community spaces).
In line with the Queens median — typical city stimulus with typical restorative access.
What drives the score
- +Restorative zones. Museums, libraries, community gardens, and parks within walking distance. “Soft fascination” stimuli (clouds, tree branches, water) let directed attention recover without effort — the Kaplans’ core mechanism.
- −Sensory load. Bar and nightclub density (5+ within 150m), firehouse siren corridors, tourist chokepoints, and very high foot traffic push the score down by up to 8 points.
- +Street vitality (Jacobs, 1961). Permitted block parties, farmers markets, and community festivals over the past 12 months — a proxy for “eyes on the street” and the informal surveillance that makes blocks feel safe and maintained.
- +Third places (Oldenburg, 1989). Cafés, public plazas (POPS), community centers — the “anchors of community life” that buffer against social isolation. Loneliness has been linked to 29% higher incident coronary heart disease risk (Valtorta et al., 2016).
Health mechanism. Directed-attention fatigue (DAF) is linked to impaired decision-making, irritability, and elevated cortisol. A meta-analysis of 60+ studies (Ohly et al., 2016) found restorative environment exposure significantly improves attention-task performance (Hedges’ g ≈ 0.32) and reduces negative affect.
Theoretical foundations. Kaplan & Kaplan (1989), The Experience of Nature; Jacobs (1961), The Death and Life of Great American Cities; Oldenburg (1989), The Great Good Place.
Transit & Commute
Subway Stations
Commute Score
3/10
Borough median: 5.5/10
Walk Score Proxy
0/10
Based on street geometry analysis
Financial Landscape
Median Price
$0
Price per Sq Ft
$0
Price Distribution
Investment Indicators
Avg Unused FAR
0 sqft
Development rights potential
Unused development rights valued at $30-$80/sqft in Brooklyn (Glaeser, 2011)
Avg Days on Market
0
Market velocity signal
Multi-Family Stock
0%
2-4 family buildings
Multi-family owner-occupants build 2.4x wealth vs single-family (Herbert, 2013)
Outdoor & Green Space
Avg Tree Count
84
Within 200m radius
Canopy Density
9.5/10
Normalized canopy coverage
Park Network
- Gemini Fields
- Park
- Walter Ward Playground
- Harold Schneiderman Playground
Avg distance: 574m
Practical Living
Who Howard Beach Is For
NYC newcomers
A neighborhood worth exploring for its unique qualities.
Pros & Cons
Strengths
Jamaica Bay
Based on neighborhood data
Trade-offs
Competitive market
High demand across NYC
Score Any Address in Howard Beach
Get detailed livability scores based on building health, transit access, safety, noise levels, and 15+ NYC data sources.
Search an Address in Howard BeachFrequently Asked Questions about Howard Beach
1Is Howard Beach safe?
By NYPD data, Howard Beach is rated "Safer Than Average" — safer than 74% of Queens neighborhoods. 1,251 crime incidents and 0 shooting incidents over the past 12 months. See the safety page for the full breakdown.
2What is the average rent in Howard Beach?
Rents in Howard Beach, Queens vary significantly by building and apartment type. The median listing price is $0. Use DwellCheck to research specific addresses.
3How is transit access in Howard Beach?
Howard Beach has a commute score of 3/10. 1 subway stations serve the area: Howard Beach-JFK Airport.
4What are the best streets in Howard Beach?
The best streets depend on your priorities. Use DwellCheck to compare specific addresses across livability, safety, transit, and environmental factors.
5What is Howard Beach known for?
Howard Beach sits in Queens and ranks #26 of 27 Queens neighborhoods on DwellCheck's livability score (4.5/10). It's served by 1 subway station (Howard Beach-JFK Airport), with a median listing price of $0. Howard Beach offers a distinctive living experience in Queens.
6What is it like to live in Howard Beach?
Living in Howard Beach, Queens weights against six livability dimensions: practical (HPD-violation density), commute (subway proximity), arts/culture (venue density), outdoor (parks + trees), financial (price level), investment (price trend). Howard Beach's composite is 4.5/10. Howard Beach offers a distinctive living experience in Queens. For the block-by-block view, run any specific Howard Beach address through DwellCheck.
7Is Howard Beach expensive?
Median listing price in Howard Beach, Queens is $0 based on 0 active listings as of 2026-04-18. Whether that reads "expensive" depends on the comparison: it's lower than Manhattan averages and varies considerably by building. Rent-stabilized units in Howard Beach can run 20-40% below the median; check DHCR rent history for any specific address to verify.
8Can you walk around Howard Beach at night?
Howard Beach is classified as "Safer Than Average" by NYPD CompStat data. Over the past 12 months it recorded 0 shooting incidents and 1,251 total crime incidents. Walking at night carries the same risk profile as anywhere in NYC: stay on commercial corridors with foot traffic, avoid empty side streets after midnight, and prefer subway lines that run 24/7.
9Is Howard Beach dangerous?
By NYPD data, Howard Beach is rated "Safer Than Average" — safer than 74% of Queens neighborhoods. 1,251 crime incidents over 12 months. Block-level risk varies; check the address-level safety score for any specific street or building.
10What parts of Howard Beach should I avoid?
NYPD CompStat reports incidents at the precinct level, not block-by-block, so a granular "avoid this street" answer isn't possible from public data alone. The most reliable signal at the block level is DwellCheck's address-level safety score, which weights NYPD incidents within a 250m radius of a specific building. As a general rule across NYC: industrial blocks with no foot traffic are higher-risk than residential blocks; subway-station-adjacent commercial corridors are lowest-risk.
11Is Howard Beach a good place to live?
Howard Beach scores 4.5/10 for overall livability and ranks in the 74th percentile for safety in Queens. Howard Beach offers a distinctive living experience in Queens. Whether it's a good fit depends on what you weight: families, solo renters, and remote workers each prioritize different factors (noise, transit access, parks, building quality).
12Is Howard Beach a good place to live?
Howard Beach is a popular Queens neighborhood. Explore the data to decide if it fits your needs.
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