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You are from LI so you should know better. First of all downtown manhattan is not NYCs downtown as there is downtown Brooklyn as well. Terms like uptown, downtown are valid only with respect to manhattan.
Second these terms were coined centuries ago and since then downtown grew and overtook other parts of the island. There are no farms and stables in manhattan anymore, you know... Downtown manhattan is the historic downtown of the city and not a city center anymore.
I do know better. New Yorker born and raised. Live in the New York area my whole life and for almost 30 years in Queens (Woodhaven and Richmond Hill).
I remember the subway signs (actually the Jamaica Ave. EL) that say "to Downtown" on the J train. The train went nowhere near Midtown.
First off your wrong. Downtown in Manhattan is known as Downtown to all New Yorkers, not just people in Manhattan. New York began in Manhattan (and its still to this day New York County) and to this day people in the outer boroughs call Manhattan "the city". Not sure about Brooklyn, if you say to someone in Flushing, the Bronx, Staten Island or the Rockaways, "I am going downtown", they will know exactly what you are saying.
Look at your sentence - you are looking at it from a national perspective and the way the word is used in other cities --- downtown is the city center. That is not how New Yorkers see it, Downtown is where Wall Street and City Hall is.
Just because someone disagrees about the definition of "downtown" isn't trolling. We just have different views that's all. It's nothing personal. You will always have disagreements on any forum. When it comes to the definition of downtown Manhattan my position remains unchanged.
But nobody is disagreeing with you about the technical definition of Downtown Manhattan. What people have been trying to explain to you -- again and again and again -- is that there is a difference between that technical definition and what was (most likely) meant by "downtown NYC" for purposes of this thread. It's really not that complicated.
I do know better. New Yorker born and raised. Live in the New York area my whole life and for almost 30 years in Queens (Woodhaven and Richmond Hill).
I remember the subway signs (actually the Jamaica Ave. EL) that say "to Downtown" on the J train. The train went nowhere near Midtown.
First off your wrong. Downtown in Manhattan is known as Downtown to all New Yorkers, not just people in Manhattan. New York began in Manhattan (and its still to this day New York County) and to this day people in the outer boroughs call Manhattan "the city". Not sure about Brooklyn, if you say to someone in Flushing, the Bronx, Staten Island or the Rockaways, "I am going downtown", they will know exactly what you are saying.
Look at your sentence - you are looking at it from a national perspective and the way the word is used in other cities --- downtown is the city center. That is not how New Yorkers see it, Downtown is where Wall Street and City Hall is.
I pretty much said this about I dunno, 20 pages ago.
Downtown is downtown Manhattan. The end.
The usage of "uptown" or "downtown" etc are ****ing relative to where you are in the city.
Honestly the OP probably meant the Manhattan skyline vs the Chicago skyline, and had no ****ing clue that "downtown NY" meant just lower Manhattan.
But nobody is disagreeing with you about the technical definition of Downtown Manhattan. What people have been trying to explain to you -- again and again and again -- is that there is a difference between that technical definition and what was (most likely) meant by "downtown NYC" for purposes of this thread. It's really not that complicated.
I got what you said earlier and I agreed. Okay, let's also agree with IEnjoyBeer's point. I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt and just go by the OP's definition from a national perspective.
I do know better. New Yorker born and raised. Live in the New York area my whole life and for almost 30 years in Queens (Woodhaven and Richmond Hill).
I remember the subway signs (actually the Jamaica Ave. EL) that say "to Downtown" on the J train. The train went nowhere near Midtown.
First off your wrong. Downtown in Manhattan is known as Downtown to all New Yorkers, not just people in Manhattan.
Wrong. Sorry. When you are in Brooklyn and say downtown you have to specify which downtown you mean: the one in manhattan or in brooklyn as the boro has a distinct and very prominent downtown now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LINative
New York began in Manhattan (and its still to this day New York County) and to this day people in the outer boroughs call Manhattan "the city". Not sure about Brooklyn, if you say to someone in Flushing, the Bronx, Staten Island or the Rockaways, "I am going downtown", they will know exactly what you are saying.
I am not sure if you realized but you just contradicted yourself. Few sentences up you just said that downtown means the same to ALL New Yorkers, now you are saying that you are not sure about Brooklyn, the largest of all boros with some 2.5 million people. Really?
Quote:
Originally Posted by LINative
Look at your sentence - you are looking at it from a national perspective and the way the word is used in other cities --- downtown is the city center.
And how should I look at it when we are comparing NYC to ther cities in the nation? Of course from a "national perspective" as you call it or as I would say by following the commonly acepted definition that describes downtown as a city core rather than just by following local naming conventions, which in manhattan were adopted few centuries ago when outside of downtown manhattan you would often find farms and stables. Historic downtown of New York does not have much to do with its actual downtown as defined in all other cities including Chicago or LA. It's like saying that downtown Brooklyn is bigger than downtown manhattan which as we know is absurd even though it maybe true based on the naming conventions only.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LINative
That is not how New Yorkers see it, Downtown is where Wall Street and City Hall is.
Some 2.5 million New Yorkers would disagree as they have their own downtown. I am not saying downtown brooklyn is as prominent as downtown manhattan but simply that it exist and acknowledged by all Brooklynities. You should come visit some day.
Somewhere in your incoherent rambling, did it ever occur to you that LINative may be much older than the hipsters that mostly occupy the areas around downtown Brooklyn today? When you ask a 20 year old in Crown Heights about "downtown", you might have to clarify, but if youre older, say 40s, 50s, even 60s, and you talk about going "downtown", 10/10 times its Lower Manhattan.
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