When I went there in 2023 during the US Open, we rode the subway everywhere and I didn’t feel the least bit nervous.
It also has unique strengths arising from the extreme population density and the inherent 24/7-ness of NYC (not to mention Manhattan's unique geography) but people don't talk about them as much as its flaws.
If your only reference point is transit in other US cities it's hard to grasp how different the NYC subway experience is, at least in Manhattan. Trains come every 5-10 minutes even at off-peak hours, and it's almost always busy. It's just not a very conducive environment for crime, unless you're riding in the middle of the night and/or at the tail ends of the system where density is lower.
When it comes to thinking about my own personal safety, I don't worry about crime on the subway, I worry about getting hit by a truck or e-bike rider.
Stories about the crime ridden subways have the same ring of truth to them as Fox News' reporting on cities 'burning to the ground' from their midtown NYC offices on a sunny day when I was walking to the park. Or Trump labeling NYC an 'anarchist jurisdiction'.
NYC has a population of 8.3 million people. If NYC was a state, it'd be the 13th most populous. It has as many people as Alaska, Delaware, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming combined. It's easy to pretend crime is high when you forget about "per capita".
I have never in 50 years thought that I would feel safer if I carried a gun. Now I have thought about getting one for my home briefly and if I lived in a less safe area of an isolated area pI would have one at home.