So, as so many of you are from NY....

Piper

Sun, Apr 15 2007, 7:51 pm

I've been googling it. As a person who has only lived in southern California, I'm trying to understand what a borough is, what it means to be a part of a village within a borgough. If so many NY's don't drive, how to you get groceries? How do you get groceries when it is raining or snowing? Or take the kids to school? Out where I live, you can't survive without a car.

withhumor

Sun, Apr 15 2007, 7:54 pm

We personally have 4 groceries near us, without crossing the street. I never needed a car, never learned to drive. To shop in the best of the best stores in Manhattan, I walk 3 blocks to the train, sit for about 40 minutes, and get off in FRONT of Macy’s… for all my whining about my rent and exorbitant living costs, it’s payback time, time to gloat!

Mama Bear

Sun, Apr 15 2007, 8:01 pm

everything is within extreme walking distance, and there is public transportation to manhattan or other neighborhoods in brooklyn. When we really need a car for a long distanace trip we rent one or we pay a taxi. Owning a car all year long for 2-3X a yeare that we might need one, is too inaffordable.

There are 3 groceries within a block from my house, and I live around the corner for the shopping district - Lee Avenue. even in todays' POURING rain I went with my baby carriage to a cafe for brunch, and some local minor shopping. City folk dont need a car.

withhumor

Sun, Apr 15 2007, 8:03 pm

I kicked hubby out a bit to buy sandwiches for brunch. A – we needed some ‘space’ in this insane weather, we were going meshuga. B – we needed food and I haven’t filled up the house yet since pesach. We spend 25 minutes arguing over which place to go for the stupid sandwiches! Because there’s 30 choices a blink away!

withhumor

Sun, Apr 15 2007, 8:12 pm

You see the tiny section on the bottom right? That’s NY City. All the 5 boros are there, surrounded by water.

The rest is NY State, a more mountainous and spread out area. Monsey, Monroe, New Square etc. are in ‘Upstate NY”. The George Washington bridge is at the end of Manhattan, connecting the end of Manhattan to upstate. Monsey is about an hour from the bridge. Boro park (in Brooklyn) is about 20 minutes from Manhattan and once you hit Manhattan, you can zoom up the highway to the bridge anywhere from 10 minutes, to 3 hours depending how lucky you are with traffic.

bashinda

Sun, Apr 15 2007, 9:38 pm

Piper wrote:

LOL. Such Californian questions! you make me Very Happy

I'm from Northern Californa btw although I've transplanted myself to Brooklyn now!

A borough might as well be a city except were a borough in the biggest city in the U.S. Brooklyn would be the 4th biggest city in the U.S. if it were a city. NYC is so big so it has as well as city council borough presidents who sit around talking about how their borough is the best and going to events. They might do important things too for all I know.

Some of us actually do own cars. Not me. I pick up the phone and call in my order and it gets delivered to me. Fish, Meat, Veggies, and Groceries all from separate stores (there's one large store that has all of that but somehow I got used to doing it the old fashioned way) Or I go walking to the store and order my stuff then tell them to deliver it! Or shlep it if it isn't too much. I would go to the big store but it's too far for me to walk. I miss how there's so many large supermarkets in CA though.

There's a thing called the bus which takes the kids to school. Or some parents take their kids but we don't have a car so DD better get on that bus!

Your questions crack me up. I remember those Californian days of getting in the car to go shopping for groceries and riding my bicycle to school unless it rained then mom giving me a ride.

chavamom

Sun, Apr 15 2007, 9:40 pm

chen wrote:

withhumor wrote:

Monsey, Monroe, New Square etc. are in ‘Upstate NY”.

Only to those living in the 5 boros. Those from Syracuse, Albany, Rochester, Binghamton, Buffalo et. al. would laugh their kishkes out to think of Monsey as Upstate. Upstate is Lake Placid, maybe.

I was thinking the same thing - laughing that Rockland and Orange Counties would be considered "upstate"! Albany, Rochester - THAT'S "upstate". Places where they see 30 in of snow and Winter lasts from October to May.

bashinda

Sun, Apr 15 2007, 9:42 pm

chen wrote:

withhumor wrote:

Monsey, Monroe, New Square etc. are in ‘Upstate NY”.

Only to those living in the 5 boros. Those from Syracuse, Albany, Rochester, Binghamton, Buffalo et. al. would laugh their kishkes out to think of Monsey as Upstate. Upstate is Lake Placid, maybe.

I guess it's all in your perspective! I wonder what Piper is thinking of all her answers though! Oh and we forgot the 5 towns which is really on Long Island but really Brooklyn is also on Long Island too just that we don't call it that because we're on the part of the Long Island that's NYC while the other part is um what is it anyway? It's not upstate certainly! It's east state?

Almost off topic: When I first moved here I kept on slipping up and saying Sheep Heads Bay.

shanie5

Sun, Apr 15 2007, 10:55 pm

and then, if u moved out of ny, u end up in an arguement that goes like this:

Them "so you're from the city?"
Me: "no, I'm from Brooklyn"
Them: "that's the city"
Me: "no, the city is manhattan, I'm from Brooklyn"
Them: "isnt Brooklyn part of New York City"
Me: "technically, yes"
Them: "so you're from the city"
Me: " no, I'm from brooklyn, manhattan is the city"

And round and round we go.....................

chen

Sun, Apr 15 2007, 11:26 pm

bashinda wrote:

I kept on slipping up and saying Sheep Heads Bay.

I thought it was pronounced Sheep-Shed Bay till I found out there's a fish called a Sheeps-Head. Which makes a lot of sense, right? a fish called a sheep's head? Rolling Eyes

I guess that's what you eat on Rosh hashana, then you have both the siman of a fish and the siman of a sheep's head in one.

chen

Sun, Apr 15 2007, 11:28 pm

shanie5 wrote:

Them "so you're from the city?"
Me: "no, I'm from Brooklyn"
Them: "that's the city"
Me: "no, the city is manhattan, I'm from Brooklyn"
Them: "isnt Brooklyn part of New York City"
Me: "technically, yes"
Them: "so you're from the city"
Me: " no, I'm from brooklyn, manhattan is the city"

.

Piper

Mon, Apr 16 2007, 1:05 am

wow. what a different lifestyle! The grocery store is about 3 miles away from my home. The corner market about 1.5 miles. Homes are built in little suburbs with the markets a distance away. And my hubby complains that the neighbors are too close because we can see their backyards, even though our house backs up into an open space of untouched land. Complete with coyotes, snakes, the occasional tarantula.

The kosher market is about 15 miles away. But the local ones carry some kosher meat.

We used to walk 3 miles (one way) to go to shul.