I've lived in NYC for most of my adult life. Do you live in NYC?
The homicide rate has declined, but it is still 3 times that of London, per-capita. Moreover, there are other threats besides homicide.
People who want affordable hotels can go to Union City, NJ for $60 a night (Priceline) 15 minutes by transit from Times Square.
The city is less safe for them than a non-elderly adult male. The homicide rate in NYC is 3 times per-capita than London. There are also other forms of violent crime and property crime. Since you've been in NYC for years then you know that many residential buildings that keep people other than residents and their guests out. We value our safety and that of our children, elderly and women who are at higher risk of crime than men.
Women are also harassed.
Why don't you ask some of your female friends whether they would want the security when in their apartment buildings?
[1] http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/feb/...
And even that includes some murkiness over things like "too drunk to consent".
If you want real rape statistics then look at sexual assault charges, not surveys.
• "Attempted forced penetration," 6.4 percent.
• "Completed alcohol- or drug-facilitated penetration" without the ability to consent, 9.3 percent.
Source CDC referenced in link provided.
1 in 9 completed forced penetration. Another 1 in 15 attempted forced penetration. Almost 1 on 5 for either.
In that study 1 in 21 men reported being forced to penetrate someone, 4.8%. A further 1.4% of men reported being raped which is defined only as being penetrated, not being forced to penetrate. That's a stupid definition of rape. So it's really more like 6% of men have been raped, which puts the stats at women being about 2x more likely to be raped than men (only 11.5% of women experienced a completed penetration attempt).
Fear is an important thing and we do need to address it, but public policy should be based on factual risks, not irrational fear. Only 7% of rapists are strangers. That means those transients at the AirBnB are the less likely to rape a woman than basically anyone else they know.
Only 31% of rapes and sexual assaults against women are committed by strangers. [0] An estimated 10% of female murder victims were killed by a stranger. 29% of male murder victims were killed by strangers. [0]
But sure, move the goalposts again. I'm confident you can find a good factoid to support keeping the "wrong sorts of people" (if you know what I mean!) out.