NYC: what is in a name


Where is NYC?



  We started to adventure out into the world of Sunnyside, Queens, Long Island, NYC, NY 100014. The name is confusing for non-New Yorkers. Why so many names for one place? Japanese ask, “It is not NYC is it? You said it is not Manhattan.”

 I explain that NYC has 5 boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Staten Island and Queens. People often think of NYC as Manhattan. In fact, Bronx is north of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens are on Long Island, and Staten Island is an---island. Yankee Stadium is in the Bronx, JFK Airport and LaGuardia are in Queens, which is on Long Island which is in NYC.

However, if you go east of Queens, to Nassau County, you are no longer in NYC. You do not even have to go over any bridges. Now that is hard to explain. Everyone expects some type of sign or border between NYC and rest of the world. Many of our friends think of river as border, such as the Hudson River or the East River. However, we patiently explain over and over that this is not true, and we get these quizzical half-smiles insinuating, “And what do you know. You live in Japan.

In all honesty, before I investigated where Queens College is located, I did not know it was in NYC. I was thinking Manhattan and river. Even after investigating on the internet and talking to New Yorkers, I was not 100% convinced. Maps have made mistakes before. Only after visiting in March 2010 and taking subways and looking closely at maps and where I had just gone, did I become a believer. So I guess it is ok for our friends to be content with thinking of NYC as Manhattan for now.

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