Civic Center, New York City crime - do the locals think there is alot of crime in the neighborhood?

It's not like this neighborhood is busting at the seams with crime but it's really desolate at night and it scared the hell out of me once when I couldn't catch a cab there after dark. It's not an ideal place to live. There are way too many people during the day and not enough at night. And, it's not exactly the right kind of people. That's right where the court is so there are all kinds of vagabonds filtering in and out.