New Yorkers argue over where Upstate begins — but fuming Westchester residents say ‘not here'
New Yorkers have argued over where 'Upstate' begins for decades – with Westchester County residents notoriously thin-skinned about being told they're on the 'up' side of the invisible border.
The Post recently visited the Westchester city of Yonkers at the edge of the Bronx, hunting for the long-elusive line of demarcation and asking locals and passersby if this is the spot where Upstate begins.
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4 East-facing view of McLean Ave.
Tomas E. Gaston
'It's not,' declared 33-year-old Yonkers resident Reaghan Giannello as she walked along McLean Avenue.
'Bronx is one street over. Depending on where I am in my apartment, my GPS says New York City or Yonkers,' the recreational therapist added. 'Spend a minute talking to us, we sound like we're from the Bronx. Upstate they say things differently. We're not in the city, but we're close enough. We don't have cows.'
While many Gotham residents have long labeled anything beyond Yankee Stadium and the reaches of the subway 'upstate,' Giannello was among the numerous suburbanites to snap back at that suggestion – while offering other questionable spots for the designation.
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She claimed Dutchess County – a roughly 100-mile trip from Midtown Manhattan – had upstate vibes.
'That's where you're starting to get cows and horses. We have street lights here, that's how you know you're not in the country yet,' she said.
McKeon's Bar and Restaurant bartender James Flynn said once a traveler reaches the state capital, Albany, they're downstate.
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'This is not upstate. Bronx is right there,' he said as he gestured across the street. 'The 4 train comes here, the Metro North.'
The owner of Angelo's Pizza in Yonkers was even more blunt.
'You can call it anything you want, but it's not upstate,' Steve Ugrinag, 65, said.
4 Steve Ugrinag, 65, owner of Angelo's Pizza on McLean Ave in Yonkers
Khristina Narizhnaya/NY Post
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Mili Diaz, a floral assistant and Blossom Flowers in Yonkers admitted when she used to live in the Big Apple, she dubbed anything north of Inwood upstate.
'I think it was just like crossing the bridge to me was like, you know, just another world,' Diaz argued. 'Anything like past Inwood felt like really, really far, but it's not.'
Now, she thinks anything past White Plains – a mere 15 miles from Yonkers and also in Westchester – is upstate.
4 McKeon's Bar and Restaurant bartender James Flynn said once a traveler reaches the state capital, Albany, they're downstate.
Tomas E. Gaston
'The area I go to my vet, my vet is in Bedford Hills, it's all green, like it's the feeling of it, the vibe is so different,' she explained.
A White Plains native turned Florida-based rapper LYPHE even made a rap about people calling Westchester upstate more than a decade ago as part of a magazine interview.
'Upstate is the place where you see, all the farms with cows like Albany,' part of the rhymes goes. 'You comparing who? Where we choose to share the views. We can see the skyline in our backyard we not scary dudes from Syracuse.'
The rapper, 47, who once lived in Yonkers, called it offensive to suggest anywhere in Westchester is upstate.
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'It's the stigma that anyone born or raised outside the New York City border can't be classified as a true New Yorker,' he insisted.
4 A White Plains native turned Florida-based rapper LYPHE even made a rap about people calling Westchester upstate more than a decade ago as part of a magazine interview.
Khristina Narizhnaya/ NY Post
'The idea that we don't have the same experience, the same credo, the same grit because we don't reside in a borough is comical.'
Jon Chattman, founder of events and music series A-Sides, said the recipe for upstate is lots of trees, mountains and no cell service.
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'Oh, and when there's more than a half hour between exits,' said Chattman, who is also content and outreach director at the Westchester Parks Foundation.
He called the idea that only the city and Long Island is downstate 'ridiculous.'
'I mean I know you can walk 70 blocks in Manhattan in a half hour but that doesn't mean a car ride or train ride in under an hour is the boondocks or Lake George,' Chattman said. 'Speaking of which, Lake George is definitely upstate.'
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Chicago Tribune
5 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
The history (and mystery) of ice cream sundaes, and 6 standout Chicago-area offerings
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Los Angeles Times
5 hours ago
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My last garden
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Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Yahoo
Woman 'Annoyed' After Friends Order Her Food Before She Even Arrives at the Restaurant — Then Expect Her to Split the Bill
"Is this some kind of weird power play, or what?" the woman asked as she sought advice on a community forumNEED TO KNOW A woman sought advice on the U.K. community forum Mumsnet about an awkward dynamic with some friends, a married couple On two separate occasions, a member of the couple ordered food for her before she arrived at the restaurant, and expected to split the bill "Is this some kind of weird power play, or what?" the woman askedA woman is seeking advice about an awkward situation with her friends. She shared her story in a post on the U.K. site Mumsnet's "Am I Being Unreasonable?" forum, beginning by explaining that she and her partner recently met up at a restaurant with her friend and her husband — and arrived to find they had started the meal without them. "We turned up bang on time, to find that the husband had already ordered garlic pizza as a starter and expected us all to share it and not order starters of our own," the OP (original poster) wrote. She was a bit put off as she had planned to order something different for herself. "I particularly wanted a starter that's unique to that restaurant, and had been looking forward to it all day, and had to really stick to my guns as the husband tried to bully me into sharing the starter I didn't want," she recalled. At the time, the OP assumed the food ordering issue "was the husband" and brushed it off. When she later got together with just her friend, she inquired about it. "I asked what was going on with 'Fred' ordering for us, and she said it was just him," she wrote. "But it happened again recently, so I'm not so sure," she continued. On the second occasion, the OP arrived 10 minutes late to lunch but made sure to text her friend ahead of time to apologize for her tardiness. "This was the first time I have ever been late meeting her in 25 years," she noted. When she got to the restaurant, she discovered that her friend had already ordered — "what I usually, but not always, eat and drink." "It was 12:40, I hadn't made her desperately late getting lunch, and she's not diabetic or anything else that would need her to eat at a particular time to within 10 minutes," the OP wrote. The OP said that for both restaurant outings, the expectation was that the bill would be split in half, despite her not getting to order for herself. "AIBU [am I being unreasonable] to be a bit annoyed? Is this some kind of weird power play, or what?" she asked fellow Mumsnet users. In the comments, most people agreed that the couple's behavior was "strange and controlling" and advised the OP to speak up about it. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. "It's weird, and I wouldn't like this. Either tell them firmly before the event that 'let's all order for ourselves' or you stop dining with them," one reader wrote. "Just say very firmly in advance, 'Please don't order for me! I like to choose for myself,' " another commenter said. Yet another person suggested: "Order your own food when you get there. Let the friend pay for the meal she ordered. Make it her problem. It won't happen again!" Still, a small minority of commenters pointed out that, at least in the second instance, the OP's friend may have thought she was being helpful by ordering food for her since she was running late. "Ordering your lunch is weird, but you've known her for 25 years so she probably thought she was helping you," one person wrote. However, another user chimed in to say that the friend still could have given the OP the option to choose her own food. "Occasionally, someone might mean to be helpful, particularly if you're running late. I've ordered for a friend in that situation, but only after I've texted her and given her the menu options so she can let me know what she wants," they wrote. "Everyone has a mobile phone these days, it's not difficult!" Read the original article on People Solve the daily Crossword
