Gillibrand and the "real" upstate region of NYS? (New York: appointed, attorney)

[FedupWNY]

Since when is Columbia County "upstate" New York?

Gov. David A. Paterson appointed Gillibrand, a largely unknown congresswoman from Hudson in Columbia County after Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton resigned last week to become secretary of state.

This map shows that Columbia County is DOWNSTATE!



Printed in the Buffalo News: http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/562189.html

Gillibrand, a lawyer, at one point served as special counsel to then-Housing Secretary Andrew M. Cuomo, now the state attorney general. She is the daughter of Albany lobbyist Douglas Rutnik and the granddaughter of Polly Noonan, a key figure in the Albany Democratic Party for decades.

I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt as she stated she's vowed to represent the entire state of New York, though I may not be supportive of her political connections and ultra conservative points of views.

[Urban Peasant]

Somebody in the newspaper probably thinks that anything north of Westchester County is considered "upstate". Strangely, whenever I think of upstate New York, I always think of the Hudson River Valley, the capital district (Albany Area), the Catskill Mountains, and West Point Academy. Columbia County therefore fits right into the region. I consider Westchester County, and NYC as downstate and Long Island as Long Island only. I never even think of Buffalo and Rochester as upstate. To me, they are simply "Western New York" and ought to be categorized separately. That is the opinion of an out of stater though, you New Yorkers probably have different ideas of what is upstate and downstate.

[FedupWNY]

Originally Posted by Urban Peasant

Somebody in the newspaper probably thinks that anything north of Westchester County is considered "upstate". Strangely, whenever I think of upstate New York, I always think of the Hudson River Valley, the capital district (Albany Area), the Catskill Mountains, and West Point Academy. Columbia County therefore fits right into the region. I consider Westchester County, and NYC as downstate and Long Island as Long Island only. I never even think of Buffalo and Rochester as upstate. To me, they are simply "Western New York" and ought to be categorized separately. That is the opinion of an out of stater though, you New Yorkers probably have different ideas of what is upstate and downstate.

While the map I showed in the post, the true geographical position of New York State has WNY as northern as the upper Adirondacks, which is "northern New York", Finger Lakes region is "central" and WNY is "upstate".

Columbia County is below Albany County, thus making our new Senator a "downstater", unlike the headlines saying she's an upstater because she's from 4 counties above NYC.

With that little geography lesson out of the way, is there any thoughts of what Senator Gillibrand should do for the "real upstate" New York?

[mycrows]

Your geography "lesson" is entirely your own opinion. The map you posted doesn't refer to upstate and downstate, so no, it doesn't show anything about the subject. I think plenty of people would consider Columbia county upstate (myself and Urban Peasant included).

Check the wikipedia page - Upstate New York - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . Of course, I'm not deferring to wikipedia as the official word on the subject, but it goes to show that a majority opinion says anything north of the NYC metro is upstate.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by mycrows

Your geography "lesson" is entirely your own opinion. The map you posted doesn't refer to upstate and downstate, so no, it doesn't show anything about the subject. I think plenty of people would consider Columbia county upstate (myself and Urban Peasant included).

Check the wikipedia page - Upstate New York - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . Of course, I'm not deferring to wikipedia as the official word on the subject, but it goes to show that a majority opinion says anything north of the NYC metro is upstate.

I agree with that last sentence. Hence the term UPstate.

[UpstaterInBklyn]

The eternal argument continues...

There a a 111-post discussion right now on http://www.city-data.com/forum/new-y...t-upstate.html in the main NYS forum.

[Port North]

Believe me, Columbia County is a world away from Manhattan, Brooklyn or Queens! It's only very mildly NYC influenced.

Most people in NYC or Long Island would definately consider it upstate. Many people here think that anything above the Bronx is upstate.

To me, upstate is anything outside of the NYC Media market which is anything to the north and west of Dutchess, Ulster and Sullivan Counties.

Albany is definately upstate why would anyone think otherwise?

I look at it this way; If they hate her in Manhattan then she is definately from upstate!

FYI: I lived in the Buffalo area for 25 years before I moved to Long Island a decade ago.

[mikesuicide]

Just proves the NYC population are self absorbed. They are a perfect example of Americans poor knowledge of geography.

[Buffalonian4life]

Originally Posted by mikesuicide

Just proves the NYC population are self absorbed. They are a perfect example of Americans poor knowledge of geography.

Just a bunch of ignorant downstate souls.

But, back in grade school I seem to recall that they taught us the correct geography of NYS. Western New York was Western New York, then there was Central New York (Finger Lakes Region), upstate New York (Adirondacks, etc), and downstate New York (below Albany to NYC and Long Island.

[Port North]

Downstaters ignorant of Geography? Absolutely!!! People here think (even highly educated people) that everyone in Canada speaks French!

Unfortunately people in NYC and downstate are the ones with the money and power and have a disproportionate influence on the policies of not only our state but the nation and the world as well.

When I lived in Buffalo I thought that the Adirondacks were the "Upstate" of New York. However the term "upstate" has to do more with culture than Geography. "Upstate" is any part of the state that is not in NYC's orbit in terms of commuting, media, accents, sports team affiliation and ethnic makeup.

FYI: Geography was my major in college, so I know what you mean about people being ignorant about it!