NYC what is in a name?

Graphic by Lindsy Spinks (click graphic for article)

Where the Names Came From:

MANHATTAN

• San Juan Hill
  The site in Cuba of a battle in the Spanish-American War.
• Striker’s Bay
  The farm of the Strycker family, early Dutch settlers.
• Tenderloin District
  Bribes paid to police in this red-light area allowed them to enjoy “tenderloin” steak.
• Carmansville
  Named for Richard Carman, a box-maker and landowner.
• Mackarelville
  Fish vendors once worked along Avenue A.
• Five Points
  Five roads met in this spot once known for crime.
• Dry Dock District
  For the shipbuilding along the East River.
• Jones Wood
  An area first settled by merchant John Jones.

BROOKLYN

• Carroll Gardens
  A nod to Charles Carroll, who signed the Declaration of Independence.
• Mill Basin
  Once home to a tide mill.
• Crown Heights
  From “Crow Hill,” a nickname for a 19th-century prison.
• Brownsville
  Where Charles S. Brown turned farms into apartment buildings.
• Vinegar Hill
  In honor of a 1798 battle between the Irish and British.
• Bushwick
  An Anglicized version of “Bos Wyck,” Dutch for “wooded district.”
• Red Hook
  “Roode Hoek” is Dutch for red corner.
• Sheepshead Bay
  For a striped fish that was once common.

QUEENS

• Rego Park
  A portmanteau of “Real Good Construction Company.”
• Jamaica
  From “Yamecah,” Algonquin for “beaver.”
• Murray Hill
  The Murray family of Manhattan was influential in Queens too.
• Ozone Park
  As in “fresh air,” not “ozone layer.”
• Astoria
  For John Jacob Astor.

THE BRONX

• Mott Haven
  Jordan L. Mott established a foundry here.
• Little Yemen
  The Bronx’s newest neighborhood.
• Allerton
  Bronxwood wasn’t sticking, so residents chose Allerton.
• Woodstock
  The title of an 1826 novel about an English castle.

STATEN ISLAND

• Bulls Head
  For a tavern from the American Revolution.
• Arrochar
  For the ancestral Scottish home of William W. MacFarland.
• Graniteville
  For a rock quarry.

A “Thank You” to The New York Times

And now the more practical view of Manhattan names:

Manhattan is split into “districts”, some of which have become synonymous with geographic & neighborhood vernacular such as the Flatiron District, The Meatpacking District, and The Garment District. There are also well known “squares” such as Times Square, Union Square, Lincoln Square and Herald Square and “heights” such as Washington Heights and Morningside Heights. More than any other US city, many of Manhattan’s early neighborhoods were rooted in their ethnic histories such as Little Italy and Chinatown to name a few obvious ones.

Manhattan has a few unique geographic acronyms that are cool to know when you are visiting such as SoHo (SOuth of HOuston Street), NoHo (NOrth of HOuston Street), Tribeca (the TRIangle BElow CAnal Street) and NoLita (NOrth of LIttle ITAly)

And finish with the Bridge and Tunnel crowd:

(often abbreviated B&T or BNT) began as a pejorative term for people who commute into Manhattan from surrounding communities. Controversy exists over whether this term extends to all individuals outside of Manhattan or rather outside the area served by the New York City Subway, a trip that, due to Manhattan’s geography, requires passing over a bridge and/or through a tunnel in a car or commuter train. It can be used to describe residents of the other four New York City boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island – but typically refers to those who travel into the city from the Hudson Valley, New Jersey, Connecticut, or Long Island.