yo man's definitions

Woodlawn

An Irish neighborhood (well, THE Irish neighborhood i guess) in the Bronx, NY. Main drags are Katonah Avenue, and McLean Avenue (which is technically in Yonkers, but is usually considered part of the neighborhood because the Irishness extends into Yonkers for a few blocks.) Woodlawn and McLean Heights are often collectively called Wood-Lean.

Woodlawn is 60% Irish.

by YO Man June 24, 2004

mount vernon

An inferior version of Yonkers. The northern half of Mount Vernon is a boring area called Fleetwood that looks like a clone of New Rochelle. The south side is a hellhole ghetto with like 2 white people which adjoins the similar Wakefield section of the Bronx.

Yonkers has 25 distinct neighborhoods. Mount Vernon just has Fleetwood. Who's more culturally sophisticated?

by YO Man June 24, 2004

Burgle

Irish for pizza

Let's go get some beer and burgle

by Yo man November 24, 2014

Staten Island

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

rockland

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.

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

Bronxville

A rich, ritzy, suburban alternative to the Upper East Side, in that it's the same snobs living in both areas. Ironically Bronxville has "Bronx" in its name, but that is because the Bronx RIVER is the western boundary of the Village of Bronxville. Bronxville is like Scarsdale, but more expensive because it is closer to the city.

The Bronx River runs through the middle of the Bronx and passes through the Bronx Zoo.

by YO Man July 11, 2004

Chappaqua

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.

The Clintons should have moved to Lower Westchester instead of a gay place like Upper Westchester.

by YO Man July 12, 2004