[Ads-l] The City

[Dan Goncharoff]

Hmm, Boro Park means the West End Line, originally a surface line going
back to the Civil War, but rebuilt as an elevated line in 1915.

Not clear whether "To City" means Manhattan or Downtown Brooklyn, although
the trains did cross the Manhattan Bridge.

On Thu, Mar 7, 2019, 5:30 PM Margaret Winters <mewinters at wayne.edu> wrote:

> Boro Park is served by the El, but everyone called it the subway, hence my
> lack of precision here.  The signs read "To City" and "To Coney Island".
>
> ----------------------------
> MARGARET E WINTERS
> Former Provost
> Professor Emerita - French and Linguistics
> Wayne State University
> Detroit, MI  48202
>
> mewinters at wayne.edu
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> James A. Landau <JJJRLandau at NETSCAPE.COM>
> Sent: Thursday, March 7, 2019 2:15 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: The City
>
> On Wed, 6 Mar 2019 13:30:44 Zone + 0000 Margaret Winters <
> mewinters at WAYNE.EDU> wrote:
>
> >Subway stations in Brooklyn (at least some of them) still have signs
> >over the stairway up or down to the Manhatten-bound train as "To City".
> >I always assumed these stations (like the one in Boro Park that was my
> >local stop) pre-dated Brooklyn's becoming part of the larger New York
> >City in1898.  Brooklyn still calls itself  "America's 4th Largest City".
> >It's not surprising that even in our adult life-time Manhattan is
> >considered The City by Brooklynites.
> >
> >I wonder about Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island inhabitants - do they
> >also consider Manhattan The City?
>
> Brooklyn became merged with Manhattan into New York City in 1898.  The New
> York subway system first opened in 1904, although the "El" dates back to
> 1868.
>
> A friend who was a college student in New York told me about a subway
> station somewhere in the Bronx that IIRC directed patrons to their choice
> of "the City" and "gun Hill Road".
>
> - Jim Landau
>
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