I've got a neighbor that is from New York state, who is the first to admit that they would never live in NYC. He considers himself a yankee through and through, and also call NYC the "cesspool" of the nation. I wouldn't call him a "big dumb cracker".
All your neighbor has confirmed is that New York City isn't really considered the center of the universe by all yankees and yankee sympathizers , as was asserted earlier.
In some cities, like New York, constant police vigilance in high-crime areas has caused the rates of urban violence to continue to plummet to levels not seen since 1968, making the Big Apple the safest big city in the country for the second year in a row. But in other urban areas, murder and mayhem are definitely on the rise. Dallas, for instance, saw a 51 percent hike in overall crime, as scandal rocked the local police department and increased drug trafficking got a tighter grip on struggling neighborhoods...
New York City probably has the most remarkable crime story in the country right now. It's managed to lower crime another 5.5 percent in 2003, even with fewer resources during a fiscal crisis.
Far from being a crime ridden cesspool, it sems NYC is setting an example for the rest of the country. Big dumb crackers take note.