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Old 03-29-2013, 02:56 AM
 
Location: New Jersey
2,653 posts, read 5,936,715 times
Reputation: 2330

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Quote:
Originally Posted by bigjake54 View Post
A relative did a semester abroad in London, during the heyday of the Sopranos. When he told locals that he was from New Jersey, they would laugh, and say, "Funny, that!" They thought NJ was a fictional name for the setting of the Sopranos, like Gotham or Metropolis!
Sound like chavs to me.....................
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Old 03-29-2013, 12:08 PM
 
Location: Historic Downtown Jersey City
2,705 posts, read 8,240,700 times
Reputation: 1226
The NYC metropolitan area is very unique in the sense that it is a MASSIVE area that encompasses 3 states. New York (as a city), in many ways defines America to the rest of the world. For example, isn't it astounding as to how many movies are set in New York?

With this "capital of the world" notion comes industries such as: Financial Services and banking, media/advertising, and fashion. There is a goliath amount of wealth to be had in these industries, and this is what drives home prices UP in the entire metropolitan area, and this is why people who are NOT connected to these industries or might not even visit the city in general (folks who live a modest life in the Long Island, NJ, CT suburbs) have such a hard time understanding how people afford housing prices.

Only in the New York metropolitan area is it "not OK" to firmly say you're "from New York" if you are from a non-NYState suburb of the city of New York.

Here is some food for thought - this would all be vastly different if the CITY of New York had a different name than the STATE of New York. Let's suppose that the CITY was named New York but the STATE was named New Amsterdam. Living in Montclair and telling a foreigner you're from New York would probably go over a lot smoother to a New Yorker who overheard such a dialogue. Interesting, right?

It's an interesting dynamic we've got in this neck of the woods, that's for sure.

For example, right now I am sitting at my desk in my bedroom, looking out my window at the Lower Manhattan skyline and the new World Trade Center. My home is a mile and a half from Wall Street. I walk a block down my street and have a dead-on view of the Statue of Liberty. On average, I am in Manhattan 6 days per week. It takes me 6 minutes underground to get to Manhattan. I do all my errands by walking and public transportation. Yet somebody who lives in Nassau County, who goes to the city 3x a year for Knicks games, doesn't know their way around the city, and prefers a Saturday night dinner and a movie at Ruby Tuesday in the Roosevelt Field Mall over dinner and a jazz show in the East Village...this person can proclaim "I'm from New York" without ridicule, while if I was to say such a thing, it would cause an issue with some people who call New York (City or State) their home.

It's all pretty nonsensical, and when you think about all the things I've just written it is very clear as to why New Jersey has an identity crisis.
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Old 03-29-2013, 12:59 PM
 
1,953 posts, read 3,857,863 times
Reputation: 1101
Quote:
Originally Posted by tommyc_37 View Post
Here is some food for thought - this would all be vastly different if the CITY of New York had a different name than the STATE of New York. Let's suppose that the CITY was named New York but the STATE was named New Amsterdam. Living in Montclair and telling a foreigner you're from New York would probably go over a lot smoother to a New Yorker who overheard such a dialogue. Interesting, right?
Yes, exactly. I've mentioned before that I would feel awkward saying I'm "from Pennsylvania" if Philadelphia was "Pennsylvania City."

Quote:
Originally Posted by tommyc_37 View Post
...this person can proclaim "I'm from New York" without ridicule, while if I was to say such a thing, it would cause an issue with some people who call New York (City or State) their home.
Very true, however I've seen many times where "real" New Yorkers that live in the city crap on people from Long Island and Westchester for saying they are from New York.

Quote:
Originally Posted by tommyc_37 View Post
It's all pretty nonsensical, and when you think about all the things I've just written it is very clear as to why New Jersey has an identity crisis.
I don't think NJ has an identity crisis. By the very fact that NJ is "not" something else, and without the presence of a strong in-state city, I think the state has been forced to form a strong identity.
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Old 03-29-2013, 01:25 PM
 
Location: High Bridge, NJ
3,859 posts, read 9,933,627 times
Reputation: 3399
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kracer View Post
Let us not forget all the immigrants who made their way to NJ and reported back to the 'old country' so darn tootin the world knows NJ.
Some even went back to the "old country." When my wife and I were on our honeymoon we took a Mediterranean cruise with stops in Italy. We were eating in a restaurant when I noticed a framed diploma on the wall from Camden Catholic High School dated 1937. The owner of the restaurant was there so I asked him about it and it was his father's. He had been brought to the United States as a young child by his parents, was raised in Camden, but decided to return to Italy in the 1960s. A friend of mine traveled to Italy with his father (who was the son of Italian immigrants who settled in Trenton in the 1900s) to find his parents' home in a small village. They stopped to ask a local for directions to a particular spot and the local, plainly seeing that they were Americans and realizing what they were looking for said "You must be from Trenton-everyone who left here in the late 1890s/early 1900s either went to Trenton or Rome in search of work."
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Old 03-29-2013, 07:22 PM
 
550 posts, read 960,874 times
Reputation: 434
I grew up in NJ, and have always felt that folks from other states perceive NJ negatively. Maybe I’m a bit sensitive and become defensive about my home state. That perception also perplexes me because in reality, the state has amazing offerings, hence why wife and I choosing to raise our kids here. I suppose it has a certain reputation; I’ve heard the state referred to as, “The Garbage State” or “The Armpit of America” plenty of times. Then again, what state doesn’t need some green initiatives and a little bit of deodorant once in a while…
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Old 03-29-2013, 07:26 PM
 
Location: pennsauken
402 posts, read 748,626 times
Reputation: 192
I love it here. I'm never moving.
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Old 03-30-2013, 12:32 AM
 
Location: Union County, NJ
135 posts, read 368,898 times
Reputation: 43
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jersey08057 View Post
I love it here. I'm never moving.
Me neither, I love it here too. It is easily the most misunderstood state. Oh well, I feel bad for the people who can't live here.

In regards to people from New York State proclaiming "I'm from New York", I feel most people would ask them: "New York City?". Then they'd have to say "New York State". Let's be honest, people don't care about New York State, though I'm sure it's nice and similar to New Jersey. I actually never ventured far into upstate New York, but people tell me it's just like being in the middle of nowhere. They tell me it's very boring and deserted. I guess it's because it's such a huge state. Also, I have a feeling that people in New York City probably tease people from New York State. NYC people who are snobs will not just criticize New Jersey, they will criticize upstate New York, Long Island, Staten Island (Although it's a borough)....basically anything that isn't their borough. Manhattanites seem to be the ones with a real superiority complex. The sad thing is, many of them are transplants from West Bumble****, Ohio. Then they come to the big city and develop an ego and pick on other boroughs/states because they believe it's the "cool" thing to do because they saw it on SNL or in an episode of Friends. Maybe they're just jealous because the people across the river for their whole lives, in many cases, have had a beautiful view, nice homes, excellent education, and have been able to come to NYC whenever they want.
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Old 03-30-2013, 12:47 AM
 
Location: Union County, NJ
135 posts, read 368,898 times
Reputation: 43
Quote:
Originally Posted by tommyc_37 View Post
Only in the New York metropolitan area is it "not OK" to firmly say you're "from New York" if you are from a non-NYState suburb of the city of New York.

Here is some food for thought - this would all be vastly different if the CITY of New York had a different name than the STATE of New York. Let's suppose that the CITY was named New York but the STATE was named New Amsterdam. Living in Montclair and telling a foreigner you're from New York would probably go over a lot smoother to a New Yorker who overheard such a dialogue. Interesting, right?

It's an interesting dynamic we've got in this neck of the woods, that's for sure.

For example, right now I am sitting at my desk in my bedroom, looking out my window at the Lower Manhattan skyline and the new World Trade Center. My home is a mile and a half from Wall Street. I walk a block down my street and have a dead-on view of the Statue of Liberty. On average, I am in Manhattan 6 days per week. It takes me 6 minutes underground to get to Manhattan. I do all my errands by walking and public transportation. Yet somebody who lives in Nassau County, who goes to the city 3x a year for Knicks games, doesn't know their way around the city, and prefers a Saturday night dinner and a movie at Ruby Tuesday in the Roosevelt Field Mall over dinner and a jazz show in the East Village...this person can proclaim "I'm from New York" without ridicule, while if I was to say such a thing, it would cause an issue with some people who call New York (City or State) their home.

It's all pretty nonsensical, and when you think about all the things I've just written it is very clear as to why New Jersey has an identity crisis.

I think it's absurd that people from Nassau county would snap at people from New Jersey for this reason. If you think about it, it's just a state boundary and the name of the city that give it a connection to NYS. New York City feels very much like a part of New Jersey in many ways. As many of us know, we see the skyline all the time (We have a WAY better view of Manhattan than anywhere else in New York), we have the GWB, Lincoln and Holland tunnel, we may go there a lot, know our way around the city, and even share the same culture. It's strange that someone in Buffalo can say to someone in Hoboken "No, that city belongs to US in New York!" although they can be hours away and never see NYC. Oh well, that's how state boundaries work. Whatever, if you're in front of a pompous New Yorker (Not all of them are, just some), don't say "I'm from New York City", just say that you're from the NYC area, or from a NYC suburb.

I am very proud to be from New Jersey, and I wouldn't have it any other way. However, if people try to downplay our connection to New York City, they're morons. Whether New Yorkers and New Jerseyans like it or not, we both are a big part of each other's lives. A New Yorker sees a ton of NJ license plates and perhaps the Jersey side of the Hudson every day, and many of us see NY license plates and the NYC skyline every day. I try to view NY and NJ as sister states, anyway. They are, aren't they? The attitude some people might have that the people across the river are somehow different or inferior is ridiculous. North NJ and NYC share the same culture. They are practically the same people.
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Old 03-30-2013, 05:12 AM
 
Location: pennsauken
402 posts, read 748,626 times
Reputation: 192
Quote:
Originally Posted by DanielNJ View Post
Me neither, I love it here too. It is easily the most misunderstood state. Oh well, I feel bad for the people who can't live here.

In regards to people from New York State proclaiming "I'm from New York", I feel most people would ask them: "New York City?". Then they'd have to say "New York State". Let's be honest, people don't care about New York State, though I'm sure it's nice and similar to New Jersey. I actually never ventured far into upstate New York, but people tell me it's just like being in the middle of nowhere. They tell me it's very boring and deserted. I guess it's because it's such a huge state. Also, I have a feeling that people in New York City probably tease people from New York State. NYC people who are snobs will not just criticize New Jersey, they will criticize upstate New York, Long Island, Staten Island (Although it's a borough)....basically anything that isn't their borough. Manhattanites seem to be the ones with a real superiority complex. The sad thing is, many of them are transplants from West Bumble****, Ohio. Then they come to the big city and develop an ego and pick on other boroughs/states because they believe it's the "cool" thing to do because they saw it on SNL or in an episode of Friends. Maybe they're just jealous because the people across the river for their whole lives, in many cases, have had a beautiful view, nice homes, excellent education, and have been able to come to NYC whenever they want.
You're right about that. To someone from Manhattan even Queens is considered the boonies.
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Old 04-02-2013, 08:16 AM
 
Location: New York
628 posts, read 658,290 times
Reputation: 736
While NYC is obviously the most famous city, and even the most famous entity in the world - the state of new york also has a level of fame that is just not matched by nj, mostly due to size. I came up with the following examples of famous non-nyc "things" off the top of my head:

niagara falls, baseball hof in cooperstown, woodstock, adirondacks, catskills, olympics-lake placid, buffalo bills/sabres, sleepy hollow, west point, the hamptons.

For NJ there is much less, hell even half the cast of the Jersey Shore TV show is from upstate.

As a native of New Jersey I have as much love for the state as anyone, but it is very much a state in the shadow of New York and not one with its own identity.
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