Is it shocking how few people know about the boroughs of NYC? (New York: living in, moving)

[SilkCity0416]

^^^ Techinically, Liberty Island doesn't really belong to either NYC or NJ, it is Federal territory-property of these United States.

[Fred314X]

Here's another interesting little factoid, one that people simply don't think about: The Bronx is the only part of New York City on the continental mainland. Everything else around here involves islands.

[TunaBoy]

yea i really need to explore the city more. Been here for 3 months and havent stepped foot in brooklyn or the bronx.

[WestburynLI to BronxnNYC]

Originally Posted by UpstaterInBklyn

"Coney Peninsula" just doesn't have the same cachet

Speaking of landfilling - In the 18th and 19th centuries, the city actually sold rights to tracts of underwater land to developers. Those tracts were promptly filled in, with no environmental regulations, of course. Can you imagine the firestorm of controversy this practice would ignite today?

Well people were encouraged filled in that water with all their garbage. It served two purposes, get rid of garbage and to make new land.

[StylesC12]

Originally Posted by 009

I double the bet by stating that very few people realize, or care, that the northern most neighborhood of Manhattan is connected to mainland USA.

hahaha yup thats correct. When i read the post above yours i thought the same thing that u just wrote. There is a part of manhattan near riverdale in the bronx, that is almost part of the bronx but is manhattan and is on the mainland. I bet that guy who put down the first bet doesnt know this.

[StylesC12]

i know a girl from Brooklyn who thought Yonkers was a part of the Bronx. And for a another intetersting fact, does anybody know that brooklyn does not touch long island at all? only queens does

[rlrl]

Long Island consists only of Nassau and Suffolk counties. But in a physical sense, brooklyn and Queens are part of Long Island. I don't know actually who actually defined Long Island as those 2 boros and 2 counties or if there is any actual definition of LI (I swear on old ancient maps I have seen bkln and Queens were considered LI)

I was explaining this to my sister in law on black Friday after that Wal mart worker was trampled to death in Valley Stream; her neighbors next door to her in Atlanta are gfom LI and she was asking me what exactly is LI and in my explanation to her I had included Bkln and Queens as part of it

[Fred314X]

Originally Posted by rlrl

Long Island consists only of Nassau and Suffolk counties. But in a physical sense, brooklyn and Queens are part of Long Island.

Not quite right; the geographic entity known as Long Island happens to encompass the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. Politically, of course, they are separate. (It's true, though, that you can start some pretty loud arguments around Brooklyn by pointing this out. To many people, Brooklyn is Brooklyn and Long Island is Long Island--actually, Lawnguyland--and never the twain shall meet!)

[Fred314X]

Here's another interesting little factoid around our boroughs: the Bronx River is the only actual river flowing within the borders of New York City.

And as long as I have rivers on my mind...in the 17th and early 18th centuries, the Hudson was known as the North River (to distinguish it from the East River).

And one more watery item: the name of Buttermilk Channel, the channel between Governor's Island and Brooklyn, has appeared on maps of the area from the very beginning of colonization. In fact, nobody knows where the name originated, or why.

[juppiter]

Originally Posted by FTLkid754

The majority of people I incountered don't know what a borough is. And if they know what a borough is they think Long Island is part of NYC and that Harlem is its own borough or its own city and that Brookyln is also seperate city I hear little about Queens and nothing about Staten Island which leads me to believe a lot of people outside the New York part of the NYC metro don't know they existand know next to nothing about the way NYC is set up. Most of these misconseptions about NYC are from people I lived with in suburban NJ inside the NYC metro area so imagine what people in Kansas think. Does this suprise you or do you think its not a big deal at all?

I know the boroughs and I've never lived in NYC... but I think it goes both ways. People from NYC know shockingly little about geography outside of NYC.