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New York Post
3 days ago
- General
- New York Post
New Yorkers argue over where Upstate begins — but fuming Westchester residents say ‘not here'
It's an 'Up' setting debate for suburbanites. New Yorkers have argued over where 'Upstate' begins for decades – with Westchester County residents notoriously thin-skinned about being told they're on the 'up' side of the invisible border. The Post recently visited the Westchester city of Yonkers at the edge of the Bronx, hunting for the long-elusive line of demarcation and asking locals and passersby if this is the spot where Upstate begins. Advertisement 4 East-facing view of McLean Ave. Tomas E. Gaston 'It's not,' declared 33-year-old Yonkers resident Reaghan Giannello as she walked along McLean Avenue. 'Bronx is one street over. Depending on where I am in my apartment, my GPS says New York City or Yonkers,' the recreational therapist added. 'Spend a minute talking to us, we sound like we're from the Bronx. Upstate they say things differently. We're not in the city, but we're close enough. We don't have cows.' While many Gotham residents have long labeled anything beyond Yankee Stadium and the reaches of the subway 'upstate,' Giannello was among the numerous suburbanites to snap back at that suggestion – while offering other questionable spots for the designation. Advertisement She claimed Dutchess County – a roughly 100-mile trip from Midtown Manhattan – had upstate vibes. 'That's where you're starting to get cows and horses. We have street lights here, that's how you know you're not in the country yet,' she said. McKeon's Bar and Restaurant bartender James Flynn said once a traveler reaches the state capital, Albany, they're downstate. Advertisement 'This is not upstate. Bronx is right there,' he said as he gestured across the street. 'The 4 train comes here, the Metro North.' The owner of Angelo's Pizza in Yonkers was even more blunt. 'You can call it anything you want, but it's not upstate,' Steve Ugrinag, 65, said. 4 Steve Ugrinag, 65, owner of Angelo's Pizza on McLean Ave in Yonkers Khristina Narizhnaya/NY Post Advertisement Mili Diaz, a floral assistant and Blossom Flowers in Yonkers admitted when she used to live in the Big Apple, she dubbed anything north of Inwood upstate. 'I think it was just like crossing the bridge to me was like, you know, just another world,' Diaz argued. 'Anything like past Inwood felt like really, really far, but it's not.' Now, she thinks anything past White Plains – a mere 15 miles from Yonkers and also in Westchester – is upstate. 4 McKeon's Bar and Restaurant bartender James Flynn said once a traveler reaches the state capital, Albany, they're downstate. Tomas E. Gaston 'The area I go to my vet, my vet is in Bedford Hills, it's all green, like it's the feeling of it, the vibe is so different,' she explained. A White Plains native turned Florida-based rapper LYPHE even made a rap about people calling Westchester upstate more than a decade ago as part of a magazine interview. 'Upstate is the place where you see, all the farms with cows like Albany,' part of the rhymes goes. 'You comparing who? Where we choose to share the views. We can see the skyline in our backyard we not scary dudes from Syracuse.' The rapper, 47, who once lived in Yonkers, called it offensive to suggest anywhere in Westchester is upstate. Advertisement 'It's the stigma that anyone born or raised outside the New York City border can't be classified as a true New Yorker,' he insisted. 4 A White Plains native turned Florida-based rapper LYPHE even made a rap about people calling Westchester upstate more than a decade ago as part of a magazine interview. Khristina Narizhnaya/ NY Post 'The idea that we don't have the same experience, the same credo, the same grit because we don't reside in a borough is comical.' Jon Chattman, founder of events and music series A-Sides, said the recipe for upstate is lots of trees, mountains and no cell service. Advertisement 'Oh, and when there's more than a half hour between exits,' said Chattman, who is also content and outreach director at the Westchester Parks Foundation. He called the idea that only the city and Long Island is downstate 'ridiculous.' 'I mean I know you can walk 70 blocks in Manhattan in a half hour but that doesn't mean a car ride or train ride in under an hour is the boondocks or Lake George,' Chattman said. 'Speaking of which, Lake George is definitely upstate.'
New York Post
08-07-2025
- New York Post
Bizarre swimming pool on NYC street dismantled leaving local hearts drained
The pool party's over. A rogue streetside swimming pool in the Bronx was apparently dismantled by its makers Monday after drawing attention from the NYPD, angry neighbors said. A TikTok video shows a group of men dismantling the makeshift pool outside a Mount Hope Place building. Advertisement 'I don't know why they took it down, but I think it was the cops who told them,' a puzzled woman who lives in the building said Tuesday. 'I mean it was fun for the kids.' Advertisement 4 Locals dismantled the pool Monday. @josh_glo0/TikTok The massive street pool was erected by longtime block resident Kenny Perez, an ex-city lifeguard, for his son's birthday, The Post first reported Monday. His creation — which he made from $2,000 worth of materials scrounged from Facebook Marketplace — was an instant hit in the summer heat. Videos showing the surreal sight of a giant swimming pool just off a New York City street — with smiling children frolicking and daredevils plunging into it from a building's scaffolding — drew millions of views online. Advertisement 4 The pool drew happy kids and millions of online video hits during its short life. Tomas E. Gaston 4 NYPD cops received numerous complaints about the pool since July 4, officials said. Tomas E. Gaston 4 Little remained of the pool Tuesday after locals took it down. Matthew McDermott But the NYPD fielded numerous complaints since July 4, police said. Advertisement Cops asked residents to drain the 'illegal swimming pool' during the holiday, but it was quickly refilled, NYPD officials said. After repeated warnings, NYPD officials requested Monday that the city's sanitation workers remove the pool once and for all. Locals, however, seem to have beaten the city to the punch — and some blamed The Post's exclusive report on the pool for its demise, despite the days of complaints to the NYPD. 'The f—king New York Post got it shut down,' one irate man ranted. Additional reporting by Nicole Rosenthal
New York Post
04-05-2025
- Climate
- New York Post
Five Boro Bike Tour takes thousands of bicyclists through NYC's main thoroughfares
More than 32,000 cyclists turned out for the annual Five Boro Bike Tour — with riders racing through the streets to beat out rain showers that swept over the city Sunday. The first wave of riders took off from Lower Manhattan around 8:30 a.m, with the huge crowd moving north through the city and through Central Park, before crossing briefly into the Bronx and back into Manhattan. From there they travelled south down the FDR and crossed into Queens over the Queensboro Bridge, spun a look through Astoria and headed south into Brooklyn, before crossing the Verrazzano Bridge into Staten Island. More than 30,000 riders turned out for the 2025 Five Boro Bike Tour on Sunday, which was spared severe rain Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post The whole route stretches about 40 miles and crosses five bridges, as spectators also braved the forecasts this year to cheer on the riders. Cyclists managed to dodge most of the deluges that had been forecast for the day, with only scattered showers during the leisurely ride, which is not a timed race. The bike tour kicked off in Lower Manhattan Sunday morning and touched all five boroughs, ending in Staten Island Tomas E. Gaston First biked in 1977 by only a few hundred riders, the event has grown over the years and become an annual staple in the city's cycling community. Registration fees go towards bicycling education programs, along with advocacy for more and safer bike infrastructure across the city.
