We spent 3 nights in the NYC underbelly with a crime reporter to see how safe the 'safest big city' in the US really is

Daniel Brown/Business Insider

In 1990, after recording a record high 2,262 homicides, some called New York City the "murder capital" of the country. But since then, the homicide rate has steadily declined.

The Big Apple is on pace this year to record fewer homicides than the record low of 333 set in 2014, the New York Daily news reported in early September.

Some have even dubbed today's NYC "the safest big city" in the US.

To get a better sense of what New York City's streets are like these days, we spent three nights with NY Daily News crime reporter Kerry Burke, considered by many to be the best in the city.

Burke, 55, reported from Ground Zero on 9/11, helped break the Eric Garner story, and was even on a few episodes of Bravo's "Tabloid Wars" in 2006. He said he's been to roughly four shootings a week since he started the job 16 years ago.

The first night we spent with Kerry passed with few incidents - perhaps a sign of the safer times. But the last two nights told a different story.

Here's what we saw.