Why are NYC addresses so crazy?

In the cell-phone/e-mail/digital age, people don't send letters much anymore. But people still have to live someplace and therefore still have physical addresses. If you live in New York City then, you know that our addresses make absolutely no sense.

The typical address is "number, street name, apartment or unit (if any), city, state, zip code." In NYC, however, it's the "city" part that gets a little confusing.

Too whit: there are five boroughs that are all part of the City of New York. Therefore, logically, every address here should be "New York, NY" or "City of New York" or "New York City." But no! Only if you live in Manhattan do you get a "New York, NY" address. And that's not because you live in New York City -- it's because Manhattan is co-extensive with New York County. So the "New York" part actually has nothing to do with the city.

And there are no correct addresses that are "Manhattan, NY" or "New York City" or "City of New York." Why? I don't know!

And it gets odder. In the Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island, almost all city addresses are "Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island." I say almost because, in the Bronx, if you live Riverdale, then the city name is "Riverdale." But the rest of the Bronx is "Bronx, NY" or "The Bronx, NY" and Staten Island and Brooklyn are always "Staten Island" and "Brooklyn." And this has nothing to do with these boroughs' county names (like with Manhattan/New York County) because only The Bronx is Bronx County -- Staten Island is Richmond County and Brooklyn is Kings County.

But where it gets REALLY confusing is in Queens (i.e. Queens county). There are no Queens' addresses that are "Queens, NY." Instead, the city part of any address in Queens is by neighborhood i.e. "Flushing, NY", "Forest Hills, NY", "Long Island City, NY", "Astoria, NY", "Woodside, NY", Fresh Meadows, NY" and on and on. So if you live in Queens, you better know what your specific neighborhood name is or else you'll have problems.

I know that NYC is a huge city and, since it extends over five boroughs, it's impossible to have a uniform city address. But why can't it be easy? You know "Manhattan, NY", "Bronx, NY", "Queens, NY", and "Staten Island, NY"? Why does it have to be so inconsistent and confusing?

I've done my best to answer this question, asked everyone I know who might know the answer, even scoured the web but have found no clear explanation. If you know the reason, please let Mr NYC know.

Sonia's Turn

Next week, Judge Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings to the US Supreme Court begin down in our nation's capital. These hearings certainly having the makings for good political theater: the Democrats will call on some of the most expert and respected legal minds in the country who support her nomination to testify on her behalf; meanwhile the Republicans will trot out blowhards and Neanderthals who oppose her to explain why the most qualified jurist in over a century shouldn't ascend to our nation's highest court.

Oh, and Mayor Bloomberg will be there too in order to testify in support of Judge Sotomayor.

This should be interesting.

Yet with her confirmation all but assured, it looks like Sonia will be leaving NYC in a few months time and heading to DC in order to become our nation's newest Associate Justice. Since most Justices remain on the court until right before they die, she'll probably never live in our fair city again.

But while she may be leaving New York in her rear view mirror, as this great in-depth article explains, Sonia is and always will be a quintessential New Yorker. This city is imbued in her values and experiences. She grew up in a housing project in the Bronx, excelled in our public schools, won scholarships to Princeton and Yale, worked in the Manhattan DAs office, loves the Yankees, theater, and the opera, resides in Greenwich Village, and is a 24-hour a day workaholic.

This is one very tough lady and her path to the Supreme Court has not only been well earned but also has a distinct NYC edge. And I'm sure she'll be a great Justice and do our city proud -- hopefully for decades to come.

It's Over (For Now)

If we still lived in the days of pimply-faced newsboys with funny caps standing on street corners, holding a stack of papers and waving another one in the air, this is what we'd probably hear tonight:

"Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Espada returns to Democrats! State Senate deadlock over! Extra! Extra!"

And so it goes.

That of model of selfless public service, Pedro Espada, has returned to the Democratic fold, giving them the party 32 votes. Along with the new LG Richard Ravitch, it looks like the final nail has been wedged into the coffin of this power grab by the Republicans. For the time being (nothing is ever permanent in politics), the New York State Senate can go ahead and be its regular dysfunctional self instead of its irregular dysfunctional self.

Espada actually apologized for putting this state through hell for the last 31 days. Oh, what a gent. I guess he realized that this new arrangement wasn't going to give him any actual power so he made the best possible deal he could to end it. So now the Democratic party once again gets to be home to this criminal opportunist. Aren't they lucky?

The unanswerable question, of course, is are we?

When Harry Met Sally ... Twenty Years Later

The classic, iconic movie about love and relationships in NYC was released two decades ago this month and became an instant classic. It stirred up the ages old debate about whether or not men and women really can be friends, about how sex confuses love, about how old relationships affect new relationships, about how love in NYC is a crazy adventure.

Everyone who loves this movie has favorite scenes, favorite lines. Some agree with the movie's philosophy, some don't but still enjoy it anyway. My personal favorite parts of the movie are the short scenes of older couples sitting on the couch talking about how they met and fell in love.

Also, this movie is an unrequited love letter to New York. Remember, this flick came out in 1989 when NYC was still viewed by many as a crime-filled cesspool. But this movie had faith in the city when a lot of people didn't, and had faith in the power of love and marriage when at times it can be very, very difficult.

Of course the most famous scene in this movie is when Meg Ryan fakes an orgasm in the middle of Katz's Deli. It never fails to be funny, no matter how many times you see it.

Breaking News!

New York State has a new Lieutenant Governor -- maybe.

Governor Paterson just appointed former MTA Chairman Richard Ravitch to fill the empty post.

Normally the job of Lieutenant Governor is a do-nothing position who only casts tie-breaking votes in the State Senate -- but with a deadlocked State Senate, this means the job currently has a great deal of power.

It is not clear if this appointment is constitutionally permissible but it's also not clear if its forbidden. Legal minds differ. The courts will decide. But if it is, our month-long political misery will be over.

Let's hope this succeeds.

Exit Strategy NYC

So you're on the subway and get out at a given station. You locate an exit and head towards it.

You're supposed to be getting off at X street and Y avenue but you get out at the wrong exit and find yourself on Y street and Z avenue.

And suddenly you don't know where you are.

Sometimes getting out at the wrong spot can totally throw you off track. You can get lost on your way to your final destination. It can cost you time -- and time is money.

Exit Strategy NYC is a new app that you can program into your Blackberry, IPhone -- whatever -- and it helps you pinpoint exactly where on the platform you should get onto the train and where exactly you should get off of the train in order to hit the right exit.

Best of all, it doesn't require an Internet connection so it works underground (it would have too after all) and it's cheap (less than $3). Sounds like a pretty wise investment.

BTW I was not paid or anything to promote this. Just caught a couple articles about it so how could I ignore it?

Wireless and Mobile News

The Astor Tragedy

Along with the name Rockefeller, there is probably no name more sterling in the history of NYC than that of Astor. The Astor family's importance and lineage in this town goes back to John Jacob Astor in the eighteenth century and, starting with its original patriarch John Jacob Astor, they have had a huge impact on this city's society, politics, finances, real estate, you know name it, they've had a hand in it.

Heck, without them there'd be no Astoria!

They were the doyenne's of Old New York Money. Even more than the Rockefellers, who made their money in oil (which used to be considered, both literally and figuratively, a kind of dirty business), the Astors first money their money in the fur trade and have always been the considered the very epitome of class. If the term "keeping up with the Jones" means anything, than the Astors were most certainly the New York Jones.

That's why the now unending story of the trial of Anthony Marshall, the late Brooke Astor's son, is so sad. Brook Astor was really the last of her kind and the allegations against her son that he looted her estate -- not only stole from his mother but basically trashed the Astor legacy. It really is the end, not only of a family or a legacy, but of a way of life.

And if you want to follow the whole saga, check out the extensive coverage in Vanity Fair and The New York Times. Never had a real life soap opera been so well written about. It may be the last time we ever read about a tragedy that, even in its squalor, is so ... tasteful.

Spirit of the City

Macy's 4th of July Fireworks

Happy Birthday America.

Classic Mr NYC

As we head into this July 4th weekend and celebrate America's Independence, here are some observations that I made as a New Yorker looking at his country right after last year's presidential election.