Debunking Misleading or Confusing Geography
GANYC member (and the official Queens Borough Historian) Jack Eichenbaum recently was discussing the warped perception of their own geography some New Yorkers may promote. To help people better understand these confusing geographic issues better, Jack provided this list:
1. When New Yorkers say "Long Island" they are usually NOT referring to the ENTIRE island east of the East River which includes Brooklyn and Queens. Rather they are referring to the suburban counties of Nassau and Suffolk east of Queens. This is only part of the whole Long Island. The usage began with suburbanization of the 1950's and the transformation of Nassau and Suffolk into "Lawn Guyland" (pronounced just like that!) Long Island was part of a Brooklyn address through the 1920's and part of a Queens address through the 1950's.
2. The East River and Harlem River are NOT rivers. Technically, they are channels connecting bodies of water. The "East River" connects Long Island Sound to New York Bay. The "Harlem River" connects the "East River" to the Hudson River.
3. Lower Broadway (where it begins at Bowling Green) is a misnomer. It is not nearly as broad as the Bowery which moves more traffic to the north. Lower Broadway is more like the British "high street", the "highway" which is lower on both sides and does not easily flood. Broadway does not maximally broaden until north of Columbus Circle.
4. The term "heights" can connote altitude and/or status. In NYC, Washington Heights is the highest of places named "Heights" but it is NOT the highest place in the NYC. Jackson Heights is only slightly higher than its surroundings. Cambria Heights is real estate fluff.
5. Upper and Lower (East and West) sides in Manhattan do not refer to the top and bottom of the maps they are depicted on. They refer to altitude.
6. The names of the boroughs have wildly different origins.
a. The name Manhattan derives from the Munsee Lenape language term manaháhtaan (where manah- means "gather", -aht- means "bow", and -aan is an abstract element used to form verb stems). The Lenape word has been translated as "the place where we get bows" or "place for gathering the (wood to make) bows".
b. The word "Bronx" originated with Faroese-born (or Swedish-born) Jonas Bronck, who established the first settlement in the area as part of the New Netherland colony in 1639.
c. The name Brooklyn is derived from the original Dutch town of Breukelen.
d. The borough/county of Queens was named for the English Queen and Portuguese royal princess Catherine of Braganza (1638–1705)
e. The borough of Staten Island was named for the Staten-Generaal (“States General”) of the Dutch Republic.
7. Unlike London and Philadelphia, most of NYC's "Squares" are really publicly accessible double triangles formed by the roadways of two avenues intersecting diagonally. Tompkins Square is an exception.
8. Madison, Park and Lexington Aves, are the East Side's only named avenues. Madison Avenue takes its name from Madison Square, its southernmost terminus, named for President James Madison.
Lexington Avenue (New Yorkers often shorten it to "Lex") is named for the Revolutionary War's Battle of Lexington, Massachusetts. Lexington was not part of the original 1811 grid plan but was instead built between Third and Fourth Avenues from East 14th to East 30th Streets at the behest of lawyer and developer Samuel Ruggles, who hoped to increase the value of the land he owned in the area.
Originally called Fourth Avenue, Park Avenue had an inauspicious beginning as the route of the New York and Harlem Railroad. The tracks between 34th and 40th Streets were eventually covered in the 1850s, with grating and grass. The section along this stretch was named Park Avenue. The rest eventually took on the name, and today the road has a beautiful stretch of landscaping occupying its generously sized median.
9. The salient geographical fact about Harlem is that it is a valley lower than communities to the west, north and south. This gives rise to the demographic differences which have changed over time. Generally, the higher elevations attract those of higher (economic) class.
10. A point is a peninsula of land jutting into water. Two examples are College Point and Breezy Point. But in NYC, the MTA has pointlessly bestowed the name "Mets-Willets Pt." to the station in an area at the mouth of Flushing Bay. Politicians touting plans for redeveloping this area have mistakenly referred to this place as a point for decades. Some older subway signs refer to "Willets Pt. Blvd." which is a 19th century street connecting the mouth of Flushing Bay to the peninsular Fort Totten, a true point of land that once belonged to the Willets family. Tide tables in the NYC area exist for the real Willets Pt.