Northwest Passage

Anyone who has spent time with these  postings will recall the bug-a-boo I usually make whenever I read the NYT refer to any borough other than Manhattan as an "outer borough." All those bridges, tunnels, rail connections and ferries that link the boroughs (other than Staten Island) with Manhattan still leave them with a status as an "outer borough." At least according to the NYT.

Today, there's a new reference that would make the uninitiated think that parts of New York City border the Yukon Territory.

Take today's front page teaser that tells us in a headline: Interpreters Needed in Bronx "The proliferation of West Africans in the northern reaches of New York City..." That's right, the Bronx is near the North Pole apparently.

"Northern reaches..." Has anyone at the Times taken a good look at a subway map and seen how many subway lines reach the top of the Bronx? The Northern reaches? I used to get off at 242nd Street and run cross-country in Van Cortlandt Park. We were near the Westchester border (Yonkers) doing this, but I never felt we had ascended to the northern reaches of the city. I never had to wear special clothing for what the Times make sound like a guaranteed drop in temperature. No extra down jacket was ever worn. I left high school in the same clothing I wore in the morning for the "journey."

My wife comes from the Bronx. Initially she grew up in the South Bronx, which I guess the Times equates with...I have no idea. Another part of an outer borough, I guess.

Eventually, her family moved to the Norwood section, 204th Street. Not quite the upper, northern reaches, since that would be about 252nd Street, or so. I never felt I was dating someone who might be from "upstate."

In fact, I'm fond of joking that according to the Times, anything north of Bloomingdales at 59th Street is probably "upstate."

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