New Yorkers: what does your mailing address look like? (Ridge: to live in, zip code)

[Colts]

Originally Posted by JeRrYcRaCk

Riverdale is not an exception considering u can put anything as long as zip codes are right. Its just the high and mighty jews there are too proud to put BRONX as their mailing address. "Oh no what would Ezekial think if he found out we lived in DA BRONX, Lets put Riverdale, NY to hide the harsh reality that we are part of the bronx."

Haha, I'd be lying if I said I haven't seen "Riverdale, NY 10XXX"; "East Village, NY 10XXX".

Or, is that just a "thing" that the wealthy areas do, in order to separate themselves from their respective boroughs?

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by Colts

Very insightful, sir. Thank you.

The reason why I asked is because my friend, who also lives in Queens, gave her mailing address to me recently as "Kew Gardens, NY" instead of "Jamaica, NY" even though Kew Gardens does not have a dedicated postal zone in Queens.

Kew Gardens is a postal station (branch) of the Jamaica, NY Post Office, and it was and is the custom in Queens to use the name of the postal station within the several post offices as part of the address.

[LINative]

Originally Posted by Colts

Here in Queens, our neighborhoods are used for mailing addresses (for example, 11 Queens Blvd, Long Island City, NY 11101). However, I know that it is different in many areas of the city.

How is your mail addressed to you? Does it go by New York, NY; Bronx, NY; etc? I'm told that some areas of Long Island use LI for their postal abbreviations.

Each borough has its own unique history and the postal mailing addresses in Queens is a reminder of that. In Queens for instance, the Long Island City, Flushing and Jamaica post offices follow what used to be independent cities and towns.

111 --- former City of Long Island City Long Island City, Queens - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
113 --- former Town of Flushing (includes most of the former Town of Newtown) Flushing, Queens - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
114 --- former Town of Jamaica Jamaica, Queens - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For example in the Jamaica article the last paragraph in the indroduction says this: Some locals group Jamaica's surrounding neighborhoods[6] into an unofficial Greater Jamaica,[7] roughly corresponding to the former Town of Jamaica, including Richmond Hill, Woodhaven, St. Albans, Rosedale, Springfield Gardens, Hollis, Laurelton, Cambria Heights, Queens Village, Howard Beach and Ozone Park. The New York Racing Association, based at Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, lists its official address as Jamaica (Central Jamaica once housed NYRA's Jamaica Racetrack, now the massive Rochdale Village housing development). JFK Airport and the hotels nearby also use Jamaica as their address .

Most of these Jamaica Town neighborhoods will have zip codes begining with 114, like Woodhaven (11421), Richmond Hill (11418) and Cambria Heights (11411).

116 --- the Rockaways (formerly part of the Town of Hempstead). The Rockaways were never a independent Town but instead were a distant part of the Town of Hempstead. However, the rest of Hempstead did not join New York City and instead helped to form what is now Nassau County.

[bmwguydc]

Originally Posted by JeRrYcRaCk

Riverdale is not an exception considering u can put anything as long as zip codes are right. Its just the high and mighty jews there are too proud to put BRONX as their mailing address. "Oh no what would Ezekial think if he found out we lived in DA BRONX, Lets put Riverdale, NY to hide the harsh reality that we are part of the bronx."

I was referring specifically to the people in the community who tend to use Riverdale as opposed to other Bronx neighborhoods that do not refer to a neighborhood name in a postal address. It has nothing to do with the origins of anyone who lives in the neighborhood, but is common usage among many different people.

[nykiddo718718]

I believe the zip code/street address combination is of most importance when it comes to mailing addresses.

[nightcrawler]

I can either write
Brooklyn, NY 11214 or
Bath Beach, NY 11214

I still get mail.

I wonder why just Queens uses the section?

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by nightcrawler

I wonder why just Queens uses the section?

Because in 1898, Queens, or more precisely, the western-quarter of Queens County (the City of Long Island City, the Town of Newtown, the Town of Flushing, the Town of Jamaica and the Rockaway peninsula) consisted of multiple municipalities and post offices when it was annexed by the new New York City and folks maintained the custom of using the local community name, as represented by their postal station (branch) of the several post offices, as part of their mailing address.

A year later, on January 1, 1899, the eastern three-quarters of Queens County (the Town of North Hempstead, the Town of Hempstead and the Town of Oyster Bay) seceded and formed Nassau County.

[Kefir King]

A name and a COMPLETE zip code (with the extra 4 digits) and nothing else should get your mail into your building and for larger buildings even within a few floors of your apartment.


I have a friend in Rego Park and she THOUGHT she was in Forest Hills until I put her straight. Both "cities" with the correct zip code got her mail delivered.

[SuperMario]

Mine is Building # (West/East) Street # Bronx, New York 10453

So I use Bronx, New York. Never knew I could also put it as New York, NY. Makes me feel special.

[Fred314X]

Originally Posted by Colts

Here in Queens, our neighborhoods are used for mailing addresses (for example, 11 Queens Blvd, Long Island City, NY 11101). However, I know that it is different in many areas of the city.

How is your mail addressed to you? Does it go by New York, NY; Bronx, NY; etc? I'm told that some areas of Long Island use LI for their postal abbreviations.

I live in Brooklyn, where all mail is address to Brooklyn, NY + zip code.

Queens, for some reason, uses individual neighborhoods rather than the name of the borough.