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Comment by stellar678 | Hacker News Reader

Hypothesis: Much lower car-ownership rate in NYC.

Sub-hypothesis: Less cars per-capita in NYC might mean the average car is more expensive and thus has stronger anti-theft features.

Edit: Climate could play a part too. I've never boosted a car, but I imagine it's more appealing in a balmy 60 degrees than sub-freezing.

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Car ownership rate in NYC is under 45%.

Many of us who own cars are too lazy to move them every couple of days for street cleaning, so they are parked in attended garages or lots, which deters (though isn't a guarantee against) theft.

Some parts of NYC have higher theft rates that get lost when blended into the overall city rate. Brooklyn for example has a much higher theft rate than the rest of the city.

> Edit: Climate could play a part too. I've never boosted a car, but I imagine it's more appealing in a balmy 60 degrees than sub-freezing.

It was raining cats and dogs that night, terrible weather for someone conducting their trade outdoors.

Not sure if people who break into vehicles care much about the weather, though :)

There is also a strong counter-argument to thieves preferring bad weather. Basically, it goes: when you are a thief, you want to do your trade with as few witnesses as possible, and to obscure any visibility of your actions to the witnesses there are. So, if you are thieving outside, you want it to be at a time when others want to be inside, and/or can't see you. Largely this means at night. Better if the weather is gross, so people are less likely to go out. Better still if they can't hear you over the rain. (If you are robbing suburban homes, you want to do it in the afternoon, after lunch, when most people are gone at work, and before the kids get out of school. For this example, the crime statistics I've seen, and anecdotes from cops back up the theory).

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