Noun

a wound produced by a pointed object or weapon

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stab

The Happiest and saddest Places in New York City, According to Twitter

” have taken a mathematical stab at qualifying NYC’s geographical happiness.”

when i read this for the fir time I didn’t understand the context stab was being used for. After looking at the definition i see that its not referring to a wound but to a risk at an objective. The paragraph was trying to say that the New England Complex System had taken a risk by taking this objective.