YO Man's definitions
The odd man out of the New York City boroughs. Staten Island is west of the Hudson and should be considered part of New Jersey. Kind of like how Marble Hill is on the mainland but is part of Manhattan. Go figure.
Growing up in Yonkers, Staten Island was like the moon: a shithole, no reason to there, feels a lot farther than it actually is, a place you see and hear about but still seems mythical.
by YO Man July 11, 2004
Get the Staten Island mug.The northernmost neighborhood in Manhattan, everything above Dyckman Street. Technically speaking, however, Marble Hill is the northernmost Manhattan neighborhood. However, people consider Marble Hill to be part of Kingsbridge in the Bronx, which it is not.
Inwood is above Dyckman, Washington Heights between 155th and Dyckman, and then Harlem, East Harlem, and Morningside Heights after that. Marble Hill, Riverdale, and Kingsbridge are north of Inwood.
by YO Man July 11, 2004
Get the Inwood mug.A northern Westchester version of Scarsdale. It's rich too, but due to its more remote location is more mild-mannered and less well known than Scarsdale. Is a hamlet in the Town of New Castle; it is not actually a municipality.
by YO Man July 12, 2004
Get the Chappaqua mug.The reason why Westchester and Long Island are downstate and Rockland is upstate has nothing to do with urbanization or location, but rather historical connection to New York City. The Bronx used to be part of Westchester County until the late 19th century and much of Westchester's nomenclature still exists in the Bronx today; the Eastchester neighborhood used to be part of the present-day Town of Eastchester; there is an Eastchester Bay and Westchester Creek in the Bronx, as well as an Eastchester Road, White Plains Road, and Westchester Square. There is a Town of Pelham in Westchester as well as Pelham Bay Park, Pelham Bay, and Pelham Parkway in the Bronx. Also, there is a Bronx River and Bronx River Parkway running through the Bronx and Lower Westchester. However, by this method Upper Westchester might qualify as upstate because it really is not involved in the Bronx/Lower Westchester history, and has some upstate names (e.g. "-on Hudson","-kill" as in Peekskill).
Nassau County used to be part of Queens and that is apparent based on similar names on both sides of the city line. Little Neck is in Queens adjacent to Great Neck in Nassau County. There's an East Rockaway in Nassau and Far Rockaway in Queens. Also, some towns in Nassau on the Queens border have the same name as the QUeens neighborhoods on the other side, like Floral Park and Bellerose. Furthermore, many zip codes straddle the Queens-Nassau border.
Rockland has none of those. It does not border any borough of NYC nor share any history with it. In fact, Rockland County used to be part of Orange County (which is upstate according to most Rockland County residents) until about 1800. This is why Orangetown is in Rockland County.
Nassau County used to be part of Queens and that is apparent based on similar names on both sides of the city line. Little Neck is in Queens adjacent to Great Neck in Nassau County. There's an East Rockaway in Nassau and Far Rockaway in Queens. Also, some towns in Nassau on the Queens border have the same name as the QUeens neighborhoods on the other side, like Floral Park and Bellerose. Furthermore, many zip codes straddle the Queens-Nassau border.
Rockland has none of those. It does not border any borough of NYC nor share any history with it. In fact, Rockland County used to be part of Orange County (which is upstate according to most Rockland County residents) until about 1800. This is why Orangetown is in Rockland County.
Nobody seriously believes Rockland County is rural or far from the city, it just has no historical connection to the city, which Westchester and Nassau Counties do.
by YO Man July 16, 2004
Get the rockland mug.A region of New York State. While it technically could mean everything in the Bronx to Albany corridor, people who identify with this region are those who live just past the NY suburbs but relatively close to the city, typically in Dutchess, Ulster, Orange, or Putnam County. Poughkeepsie could be said to be the capital of the Hudson Valley region.
Everyone from this region thinks they are from "Po-town" (Poughkeepsie). Kind of like how everyone in Westchester thinks they are from the Bronx or Yonkers when they really live in Scarsdale.
by YO Man July 27, 2004
Get the Hudson Valley mug.A mountainous version of the Midwest. Country life at its worst. Upstate is very distinctive looking from other similar areas (Western Pennsylvania, the Midwest, New England) and it all looks exactly the same.
Two places upstate 50 miles apart look more like each other than two places in Yonkers two BLOCKS apart.
by YO Man June 11, 2006
Get the Upstate New York mug.A phrase meaning adult height as opposed to a child. Does not necessarily mean a person measures at least 72 but no more than 73 inches.
by YO Man July 27, 2004
Get the 6 feet tall mug.