[Ads-l] The City

[Margaret Winters]

Yes, the west end.  At least by the time I came along (subway in the 50s with my parents and the 60s alone), the direction “The City” meant Manhattan to everyone I knew.

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MARGARET E WINTERS
Former Provost and Professor Emerita French and Linguistics
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI  48202

mewinters at wayne.edu<mailto:mewinters at wayne.edu>

On Mar 7, 2019, at 6:45 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com<mailto:thegonch at gmail.com>> wrote:

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<mailto: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<mailto:mewinters at wayne.edu>


________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>> on behalf of
James A. Landau <JJJRLandau at NETSCAPE.COM<mailto:JJJRLandau at NETSCAPE.COM>>
Sent: Thursday, March 7, 2019 2:15 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU<mailto: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<mailto: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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