What Do You Call Your Neighborhood Amid 'Rebrandings' (Small Stakes Big Opinions)

Summary

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Podcast Summary

Podcast: All Of It

Host: WNYC (David Fuerst, in for Alison Stewart)
Episode: What Do You Call Your Neighborhood Amid 'Rebrandings' (Small Stakes Big Opinions)
Date: September 24, 2025
Guest: Greg Young, Co-host of the Bowery Boys podcast

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Episode Overview

This episode explores the stories, histories, and sometimes-contentious debates behind New York City neighborhood names and their frequent rebrandings. With guest Greg Young, co-host of the Bowery Boys NYC history podcast, the show dives into why neighborhood names change, who drives these changes, and what happens when developers, residents, and real estate agents all stake claims on a place’s identity. Listeners call and text in to share their own neighborhood-naming stories, raising questions about authenticity, history, and the constant flux of New York City’s map.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Where Is WNYC Really Located? (Hudson Square vs. Soho)

• [00:07–03:02]
  David opens by addressing a listener's letter contesting WNYC's statement that their studio is in Soho; the listener argues they're actually in Hudson Square.
• Greg Young confirms WNYC's building is geographically in Hudson Square but explains the hesitation in using that name, which feels “made up” to many, like “Hudson Yards.”
  • Quote [02:23, Greg Young]:
    “When I hear Hudson Square, to me that sounds like a made up name. It sounds like, oh, a developer made up that name … But in fact, it is a very old name that goes back to the early 19th cent[ury].”

2. History and Evolution of Neighborhood Names

• Hudson Square: Once known as St. John’s Park, developed by Trinity Church in the early 1800s; the “Hudson Square” label faded as other neighborhoods like SoHo and Tribeca gained cachet, only to be revived by Trinity in a 2001 rebranding push ([03:03–04:39]).
• Neighborhood boundaries are “complicated,” often fuzzy, and subject to both organic and commercial forces.

3. The Trend of Abbreviated Names: SoHo, NoHo, Tribeca, Nolita

• SoHo (South of Houston) was coined in the late 1950s and 1960s, emerging from a working-class, industrial area into a trendy arts district ([05:27–07:17]).
  • The trendy London SoHo was also invoked, boosting its cool factor.
• The success of SoHo led to a wave of “portmanteau” neighborhoods: Tribeca (Triangle Below Canal), NoHo (North of Houston), etc.
• Why some names stick: They catch public imagination, often driven by real estate interests or shifts in demographics and cultural cachet. Others fade quickly.
  • Quote [07:27, Greg Young]:
    “If you have a SoHo, then a few years later … you’ve got to have a NoHo. But, you know, nobody in … NoHo … called it NoHo, right, until, like, the 1970s. … It’s just a way to distinguish an area from another area that's already been distinguished by abbreviations.”

4. Listener Stories: Memories & Rebranding Effects

a. Little Italy & Nolita

• [08:48–11:25]
  Janet from Little Italy shares her 50-year journey: witnessed the neighborhood shift from a tight-knit Italian community (John Gotti sightings, families straight from Sicily) to high-end shops with few Italians left.
  • Quote [10:19, Janet]:
    “Now it is … completely transformed and is just all upscale shops … Very few Italians, but a few left. And they deign to nod at me. And I nod at them … with just a chin gesture, as is the way we communicate around here.”
• Greg laments how “Little Italy basically only means essentially a tourist neighborhood” now; he’s skeptical about “Nolita” as a valid replacement.

b. Gowanus vs. South Slope, Brooklyn

• Rebecca prefers the honest, industrial name Gowanus (“aligning with an industrial canal that until recently had live gonorrhea in it”) over the gentrifying “South Slope.” ([12:22–13:08])
  • Greg notes that “grimy history” can become a selling point, and celebrates Gowanus's rich Dutch and Revolutionary War history.

5. Blurry & Contested Neighborhood Boundaries: The Speed Round

• Ditmas Park: Flatbush, Ditmas, or Midwood? Greg explains Ditmas Park is a planned suburban development named in the early 20th century, but built inside old Flatbush.
• Upper West Side/Lincoln Square/Manhattan Valley/Morningside Heights: Boundaries are “blurry lines,” not solid ([16:30]).
• Rose Hill vs. Kips Bay: Both right—names go in and out of vogue, and places may overlap (“If you want to be cool, say Rose Hill. If you want people to know where you are, say Kips Bay”—[17:30]).
  • Quote [18:12, Greg Young]:
    “…neighborhoods can actually be both, because, like, things change over time. Names are in vogue.”

6. Community vs. Developer-Driven Naming

• While real estate agents and developers often push new “brands” for neighborhoods, sometimes names rise up from the community or are codified by historic preservation efforts ([18:47]).
  • Quote [19:48, Greg Young]:
    “A neighborhood is people. And a neighborhood, although real estate developers want it to be buildings, at the end of the day, it's people. So it's what the people call it who live there, ultimately.”

7. The “Heights” Trick & Real Estate Marketing

• Adding “Heights” to neighborhood names (e.g., “Stapleton Heights,” “Greenwood Heights”) is a longstanding marketing ploy to make areas sound more elite or separated from negative connotations. Greg finds this both amusing and a bit deceptive ([21:23]).

8. Pushback Against Rebranding: SoHa in Harlem

• “SoHa” for South Harlem is called out by a caller—and immediately dismissed by Greg for erasing the area’s remarkable Black and Dutch history ([22:48–23:39]).
  • Quote [22:48, Greg Young]:
    “Harlem is one of the most historical places in the United States ... Why would you change the name of this incredibly important place?”

9. Neighborhoods Named by Landmarks: “By the Home Depot”

• Some areas resist neat boundaries or fancy names. One listener just calls their intersection “by the Home Depot,” mirroring 19th-century habits of referencing locales by landmarks ([24:01]).

10. Adopting (and Accepting) New Names: NoMad, Dutch Kills, East Williamsburg

• Listener Davidson says what was once “East Midtown” became “NoMad,” a portmanteau (“north of Madison Square Park”). Greg reluctantly uses “NoMad” because it “rolls more off the tongue,” but emphasizes that this culture of endless micro-neighborhoods is driven by money and gentrification ([25:59–27:14]).
• Other areas like “Dutch Kills” and “East Williamsburg” can be historically rooted or simply real estate derivative, often overlapping with longstanding neighborhoods (“You could call it any of that and be somewhat right"—[29:00]).

11. Ocean Hill & Sub-Naming Within Bedford-Stuyvesant

• Listener Nicole asks about Ocean Hill’s Italian roots and why it’s carved out from Bed-Stuy. Greg explains Brooklyn's patchwork evolution—from small Dutch towns to sprawling city—led to regions like Ocean Hill being defined as the city grew and developers named areas to market land ([31:17]).

12. The Enduring Power (and Absurdity) of Names

• Names both reflect and shape our feelings about place, community, and history. Greg’s favorite is “City Island” in the Bronx—originally marketed in the 19th century as “New City Island,” an aspirational hub. The true stories behind names often persist, even when the original dreams don’t pan out ([27:24–28:42]).
  • Quote [28:42, Greg Young]:
    “The name is as an aspiration of, like, we're going to be this. And it didn't quite get there. But we still have the name...”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On rebranding fatigue:
  Greg Young [07:17]:
  “In a way, we can't even stop them now. And some of them click. Some of them get ignored.”
• On the power of resident consensus:
  Greg Young [19:48]:
  “It doesn't matter if the people who live there don't use those words, then that's not gonna be the name of the neighborhood.”
• On Harlem's integrity:
  Greg Young [22:48]:
  “That’s the one I hate the most... Harlem is one of the most historical places in the United States ... Why would you change the name of like this incredibly important place?”

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Key Timestamps for Segments

• [00:07–03:02]: Are WNYC studios in Hudson Square or SoHo? History of Hudson Square.
• [05:27–07:17]: How and why “SoHo” and “Tribeca” names emerged and spread.
• [08:48–11:25]: Listener Janet on Little Italy’s transformation.
• [12:22–13:08]: Rebecca in Brooklyn celebrates Gowanus authenticity.
• [16:30–18:12]: Gray areas and overlapping boundaries: Upper West Side, Lincoln Square, Manhattan Valley, Morningside Heights, Rose Hill, and Kips Bay.
• [18:47–19:48]: Who gets to name a neighborhood?
• [21:23–22:21]: Real estate rebranding tricks: “Heights” suffixes.
• [22:48–23:39]: Rejecting “SoHa” in Harlem.
• [25:59–27:14]: Listener Davidson on “NoMad;” Greg on reluctant adoption of new names.
• [27:24–28:42]: Greg’s favorite name: City Island, a story of aspiration.
• [29:00–30:09]: Dutch Kills and East Williamsburg: boundaries in flux.
• [31:17–32:55]: Ocean Hill Brooklyn & Edges of Bedford-Stuyvesant’s identity.

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Takeaways

• NYC neighborhood names are a constantly evolving tapestry, shaped by history, marketing, immigration, and the sometimes-quirky preferences of locals.
• The tension between authenticity and branding is a running theme: some names honor real and vibrant community roots; others are attempts to erase, market, or gentrify.
• At stake is not just cartography, but identity—what it means to belong to a place, to honor its past, and to recognize its continuingly changing face.

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Resources & Further Exploration

• Greg Young’s Podcast: The Bowery Boys
• Text segment cue: “Your guest just got a new listener!”
  (Listeners clearly found the segment engaging and sought out more in-depth NYC history content.)

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Episode Tone:
Conversational, witty, a bit irreverent, with deep affection for NYC’s quirks and contradictions. Greg Young offers a mix of fun stories and respectful historical context, while the callers inject real personality and local color.

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For anyone who has ever wondered, “Where exactly am I?” or “Why does this block have three names?”—this episode is your map, your memoir, and your comic relief.

Transcript

[A]

You're listening to all of it on wnyc. I'm David Fuerst in for Alison Stewart. Coming up on the show today, we mark Climate Week with two conversations. We'll speak with Raleigh Williams and Nicole Conlon, hosts of the podcast the Climate Deniers Playbook, which uses humor to talk about what is basically a really unfunny catastrophe. And New York Times columnist Ron Lieber and reporter Tara Siegel Bernard are here to talk about their article titled how to Shop for a Home that Won't Be Upended by Climate Change. Plus, a major new exhibit opens at the Whitney Museum today. And we'll be joined by the curators of 60s surreal. That's the plan. So let's get things started with a conversation about New York City neighborhoods. Normally, when Alison Stewart kicks off the show, she says we are live from the WNYC studios in soho. That's because WNYC is on Varick Street, a couple of blocks south of Houston, a couple of blocks north of Canal. But recently we received a letter saying we are mischaracterizing our neighborhood. Attached is a photo of the trash bin in front of the green space. Says the listener, that's the green space, our performance space down on the ground floor of our building. The trash bin says Hudson Square. The letter writer goes on to define Hudson Square as Canal to Houston, Hudson river to 6th Avenue. A universal truth about New York is that neighborhood borders are complicated. And if you live or work here long enough, you'll see attempts to rebrand neighborhoods. So here now to talk about the history behind some New York City neighborhoods and their changing names and borders is Greg Young. Greg is a co host of the long running New York City history podcast, the Bowery Boys. And Greg, welcome back to all of it.

[B]

I am delighted to be here, especially to talk about something as kind of like silly, contentious, but beloved as neighborhood names.

[A]

Delighted to be here. Thank you. And where is here?

[B]

Okay, is this Hudson Square?

[A]

Where are we, Greg?

[B]

All right, so knowing that we were gonna discuss this, I did some research onto this. So we are in fact in Hudson Square. That is correct. But I'll explain to you why it feels uncomfortable, awkward in our mouths perhaps, you know. So we are surrounded by soho over to the east, West Village to the north, and then Tribeca down in the south. So when I hear Hudson Square, to me that sounds like a made up name. It sounds like, oh, a developer made up that name. Because it's sort of like Hudson Yards a little bit. Yeah. But in fact, it is a very old name. That goes back to the early 19th cent.

[A]

There's some real history here.

[B]

Yes. So if you didn't know, one of the biggest landlords in all of New York City history is actually Trinity Church. And Trinity Church owned all this land up here in the early 19th century and began developing it, really, as one of the first breakout neighborhoods from outside of, like, lower Manhattan. And so they developed this neighborhood called St. John's park, and it was also referred to, or I believe it also may have been an area next to it called Hudson Square all the way back in the early 19th century. So you may wonder, like, why don't we. Why doesn't it roll up the tongue like Greenwich Village or something like that? Well, the name kind of went away. I mean, part of it did have to do with the construction of the tunnel because, like, you know, it became less sort of residential, and then the names around it became more popular. We can talk about that as to why in a second. But I dug around this morning and found an article from 2001 in the New York Daily News that specifically said that Trinity, because they still owned the land, was trying to rebrand this particular neighborhood. It was kind of a square that was like, not only a. No, no man's land, but, like, you had SoHo, which was really trendy. You had Tribeca, which was really trendy. So they wanted to get in on the action. So they rehabilitated this old name in 2001 and called it Hudson Square. So that's why, like, some of the old timers, like me and some of you out there may not call it that. You're like, it's not the thing that jumps into your. Because it is. It's like a. It's an old name, but it's also a new name.

[A]

Okay. And I can already imagine the, you know, controversies and arguments building if you want to get into this conversation. If you have a question about a New York City neighborhood, call us or text us the number. 212-433-9692. That's 212-433-WNYC. Or maybe you want to share what makes your neighborhood name special. Maybe you just want to know where you are. Call us or text us. 212-433-9692. And, Greg, you'll do your best to answer all of this.

[B]

I've studied up on everything. I'm not necessarily a history jukebox, but if you put a quarter in, I might be able to know the tune.

[A]

Well, Hudson Square borders soho. When did the name soho first come into you.

[B]

So soho kind of. I mean, I'm sure there might be an example or two a little earlier, but kind of gave birth to this abbreviation type of thing that we now live with in. In New York City. So SoHo came along in the late 50s, early 60s, because this particular area of New York, which was all kind of cast iron. It was like warehouses, sweatshops, that kind of thing during this period. And it was around the 60s and 70s that people started to move into those big lofts. I'm sorry, it was like, in the 70s, and that kind of changed the character of the neighborhood. And so because it was, you know, had been kind of like working class, had actually been these factories, and now it was like artist studios. And now you had, like, trendy bars and things that were kind of moving in on the side. And so to kind of separate it from. From the rest of the Village, because I think people just mostly called it the Village, this whole area. They ended up taking soho south of Houston, which, by coincidence, also sounded like a really hip, trendy neighborhood in London. So it kind of had a little bit of that cachet was added to it as well. And so that became really popular. And then you have, just a few years later, you have Tribeca coming in, which is the triangle below Canal. And so then that picks up to kind of the same sorts of artists groups, bohemian types, move in here. And then it starts a wave of these new names, right. In a way, we can't even stop them now. And some of them click. Some of them get ignored.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. What causes it to click? Obviously, SoHo, right. If you can already kind of use a name that's a name of a trendy neighborhood in London, that helps, right?

[B]

I mean, I think part of it is just like, as. As sort of, like, populations change as real estate agencies come in, they want to, like, sell certain areas, certain properties, you know, and we get. Our neighborhoods become smaller and smaller. Keep that in mind, too. What we refer to as a neighborhood today would be very different in scale than what it had been like 100 years ago. So because of that, like, these smaller areas start getting defined in specifically different ways. So like, and then, you know, if you have a SoHo, then a few years later, right, you've got to have a NoHo. But, you know, nobody in the, like, NoHo, that particular area above Houston has an incredibly rich history. Nobody called it NoHo, right, until, like, the 1970s. So it's just a way to, like, distinguish an area from another area that's already been distinguished by abbreviations.

[A]

We will be branding the northeast corner of this studio in the near future. But we do have a lot of phone calls coming through right now. Let's get to some of your questions. You can call us or text us. 212-433-9692. First, I really want to read this text. Someone writing in to say, when my mom was growing up in what is now Soho, she said back then in the 1960s, there was no such thing as Soho. It was all just Little Italy.

[B]

Funny.

[A]

Funny how the rebrand completely takes over.

[B]

Oh, my gosh, that's so true. In fact, the one name that stuck that I actually have a, still have a problem with is Nolita, which is north of Little Italy. I mean, it's very interesting to think of the kind of Italian quarter, like sort of the, which is like Greenwich Village, sort of southern Greenwich Village because there was like a large working class Italian population from there and it kind of got whittled away over the years. Part of it has to do with NYU and the student population that's around there. And. But you know, but then there was always solid Little Italy until like the 80s when again, as part of this, like, growing, like we need to make things trendier and have the real estate prior, they chopped off a part of it and called it Nolita. So. Yes, but it's crazy to me because the San Geneiro festival still takes place there. So it is, to me, Little Italy. It's just. But it's. Yes, but the Italian quarter. This was a huge Italian neighborhood. It's true.

[A]

Well, let's hear from Janet calling from Little Italy. Welcome to all of it.

[C]

Thank you very much. Yes, can you hear me?

[A]

Oh, yes, welcome.

[C]

Okay, good. Yes. I've lived here for 50 years. And when my husband and I first moved to the neighborhood, we were in a tub and kitchen walk up between Prince and Spring, and watched the area across the street from us change from our fifth floor tenement department. And now we moved uptown a block to being right across the street from Old St. Patrick's Church. And my front windows look out on the cemetery that is on the north side of Old St. Patrick's and it was definitely Little Italy when we moved in here. John Gotti was a very familiar figure. My daughter's best friend was the youngest member of a Sicilian family. And she for the most part, translated for her parents. But I just love saying her name, which is Rosalba Buszetta, daughter of Salon Concetta Bozetta. And now it is. The neighborhood is completely transformed and is just all upscale shops, you know, very fancy stores. Very few Italians, but a few left. And they deign to nod at me. And I nod at them, you know, with just a chin gesture, as is the way we communicate around here. And it's very safe, Very safe neighborhood.

[A]

Well, thank you for sharing that. And nodding is always pleasant. It's always friend.

[B]

Sure. So I was gonna say, it's sort of sad, isn't it, that this. This name, Little Italy, basically only means essentially a tourist neighborhood. Right. It's a vestige. I mean, like, it's very fun on the weekends. I'm not gonna lie. It is fun. But, you know, it's like it used to represent something else. It used to represent a large group of New Yorkers who lived here and sort of defined the culture, which has now been moved away, and it's been sort of diffused into this kind of hyperactive Italian experience, you know, in Manhattan.

[A]

We're speaking with Greg Young, co host of the long running New York City history podcast, the Bowery Boys. And we're taking your calls. If you'd like to join this conversation. 212-433-9692. Let's hear from Rebecca in Brooklyn. Welcome to all of it.

[D]

Hi. Thank you. So I want to talk about the neighborhood that I have lived in for over 20 years. When I first moved to 3rd Avenue in Brooklyn, the real estate folks referred to it as South Slope. Trying to align with Park Slope, of course. But over time, the neighborhood sort of gained its own identity. And while I generally hate new neighborhood names, I love the fact that my neighborhood is called Gowanus because instead of trying to align with something sexy, it's aligning with an industrial canal that until recently had live gonorrhea in it. So, you know, we're really owning. We're really owning where we are. We're next to a super fun site, and our neighborhood is called Gowanus. And I personally love it.

[B]

Yeah, so I love that too. I'm a Brooklynite. And it is funny because there was just a moment in time when, you know, when you're trying to get people develop. To develop things. And like, the Whole Foods was down there first. Right. Like to lure other people in. Those developers don't want you to be reminded that you're by this putrid body of water that was for decades, for generations, was disgusting. Right. And like, let's. Let's not go swimming in it today. But it is funny how that kind of shifted that in a sense, that kind of like, more grimy history actually works to its advantage today because, I mean, that is an, that, that is an old, I believe it's a Native American name, but, but it's a, it traces back to the Dutch also. And there was a very famous Revolutionary War battle, you know, the Battle of Gowanus Creek. So it does have an incredibly rich historic name. It would be tragic if they like, had erased that and come up with some like, go Papa or whatever. Some like, you know, like, you know, combining all of the different names into something that I think like, takes away from the history, which you can actually see when you walk through there today, you know.

[A]

Well, if you want to join this conversation, give us a call, 212-433-9692. You can also text 212-433-9692. We will get to more of your calls in just a moment. This is all of it here on wnyc. And this is all of it here on wnyc. I'm David Fuerst in for Alison Stewart. We are speaking with Greg Young, co host of the long running New York City history podcast, the Bowery Boys. And we are taking your calls about New York City neighborhood names. And Greg, are you ready for a speed round of questions?

[B]

Okay, I'll try my best. Ripping the desk.

[A]

Okay, we have a lot of texts and phone calls coming through. We will get to your calls. Here's a few texts, quick ones. I moved to Ditmas park in Brooklyn and discovered most people refer to the neighborhood as either Flatbush or Midwood. And there's no park. Where am I really? This is from, Luis.

[B]

Ditmas park would have been a name that came out. I believe it's the late 19th century, even early 20th century when there was very in vogue because Brooklyn was expanding rapidly by that point. And so they were creating all of these different developments with these very gorgeous names. Don't even get me started on Ozone park, for instance, Floral Park. I mean, there's like a bunch of neighborhoods that have kind of that are new developments. But what's interesting about Ditmas park, because it does look so strikingly different from Flatbush, which is right next to it. I mean, it is built in Flatbush. I mean, Flatbush is one of the oldest. It's literally it was a Dutch village. Right. So that name traces all the way back, whereas that is a little different.

[A]

Okay, Greg, can you weigh in on the boundaries of the Upper West Side vs Lincoln Square, Manhattan Valley and Morningside Heights?

[B]

Oh, no, no, no, I can't. They're so poor. They're so. I would say this. They are. They're not. They're not solid lines. They're blurry lines. Because I feel like, you know, when you're in one. But it would be hard for me to say, like. So for me personally, like, Lincoln Square ends around, like 70th Street. Right. But I think if. But that's. Others might be like, well, no, that's like hardcore Upper west side. And then, you know, Morningside Heights is definitely, you know, above, like the line of Central park and then maybe in the middle Manhattan. That's tricky for me.

[A]

This is why you said no, this is Right, right. Okay, here's another one. Great debate in our building, we live on East 25th between 2nd and 3rd Avenue, Manhattan. Are we in Kipps Bay or Rose Hill? Please help settle the debate.

[B]

So I would say that you live in Rose Hill, but that's not a name that a lot of people know. It's actually a little less common than Kips Bay. So I think not to get out of this, but I think in a sense it's kind of both. You know, like, neighborhoods can actually be both because, like, things change over time. Names are in vogue. Both of them are historic names. Kips Bay is actually an, I believe, older name. Rose Hill was named on as a mansion that was around that. An estate. So I think if you want to be cool, you say Rose Hill, but if you just want to be like. But if you wanted people to actually know where you're at, where you're at, you might say, kids.

[A]

All right, so everybody's a winner.

[B]

Yes, I think so.

[A]

Okay. All right. So, you know, there have been attempts over the years to actually legislate New York City neighborhood names. Sure. Back when he was a state assemblyman, Hakeem Jeffries sponsored legislation in 2011 that would punish real estate agents for inventing neighborhood names and or stretching their boundaries. State Senator Brian Benjamin tried this again in 2017. Neither bill went anywhere. Is there a formal process when it comes to renaming neighborhoods? Or can anyone just start calling their neighborhood whatever they want?

[B]

It is some of that, but what you will find is it will sometimes come from the community. So for instance, there is an area of Flatbush or Flatbush is sort of, I guess, coterminous. The name is with little Caribbean, because what that is like, it's the same neighborhood, but it's aspects of that neighborhood. And so that's a name that it's really like a community based, like, initiative to unite that another way that these names get Kind of like solidified is when they become historic districts, when landmark preservation, when they sweep in and they're like, we need to define this particular area so we can protect it. Sometimes they'll use a name that is more colloquial, for instance. So in that case, you will. You'll get names that way. So, I mean, is there, like an official. I don't think that any neighborhood is properly official. I mean, even if you look back, I mean, I suppose, like if you look at Times Square, which was named at the. After the New York Times in 1904. Right. Was because that their offices were right there. That's about as official as you can get because the city had a big party for it and everything. But I don't. You know, I think it's important to remember that a neighborhood is people. And a neighborhood, although real estate developers want it to be buildings, at the end of the day, it's people. So it's what the people call it who live there, ultimately. And so you can do whatever baby talk you want to with Bacalka or Hohahu or whatever. It doesn't matter if the people who live there don't use those words, then that's not gonna be the name of the neighborhood.

[A]

Well, Greg Young, you're making those rulings today.

[B]

I am. I'm gonna make that decision.

[A]

Co host of the New York City history podcast the Bowery Boys. If you wanna join this conversation, 212-433-9692. Tracy in Staten Island. Thank you for waiting to speak with us. Welcome.

[E]

Oh, hi. Yeah, I'm a native Staten Islander, and when my husband and I bought our first house, we bought it in Stapleton. And, you know, you say Stapleton to any Staten Islander, they'll know what you're talking about. And when we sold that house, the realtor listed it and called it a lovely historic home in Stapleton Heights. Oh, and we, my husband and I, laughed so hard, and we were like, well, if we knew we were in Stapleton Heights, maybe we would have stayed here. And we drive. We drive past it every once in a while, and trust me, it's still Stapleton.

[A]

Is that. Is that an old trick, adding heights to something?

[B]

In fact, that story reminds me of Greenwood Heights, which is this neighborhood over by Greenwood Cemetery, which is a way to, like, gussy up a neighborhood that might have some negative connotation. I don't know why Stapleton would have that, but it is like, that's a trick all the time. If you go through, especially in, like, not Manhattan, necessarily. But in the other boroughs, when they really started to develop in the late 19th century and early 20th, where people were buying tracks of land specifically to get people to move out there, they were coming up with all of these names. And so, like, they're a little less historically authentic, except, of course, like, you know, now a name like Ozone park is historic, even though it's not based on anything that was, like, that happened in the ground there. So I would still call it Stapleton, but, you know, maybe they're able to get, like, I don't know, $100,000 extra for the property if you add heights to it.

[A]

All right, we have another caller, Ryan in Harlem. Welcome to all of it.

[E]

Hello, everyone.

[C]

Thanks for having me. One thing that I noticed that's happening.

[B]

In the real estate gentrify the neighborhood is the SOHA in Harlem. So I think anyone that wants to.

[C]

Refer to Harlem as so harsh and.

[D]

Not move here, I.

[B]

That's the one I hate the most. I was like, was trying to think of this one I hate. I don't like the most. And the moment you said it, I was like, harlem is one of the most historical places in the United States. Okay. Traces back literally. It gets its name from a Dutch village. Okay. So it has been there for, you know, like 375 years or something. And then, of course, it has one of the most amazing lineages because of, like, African American, black history, cultural history that has come through there. So, like, to me, I'm like, why would you change the name of, like, this incredibly important place? But of course, they want, you know, like, they're trying to rebrand certain things. So that seems like a brand new neighborhood, like something that's like, where the slate is wiped clean. And to me, I mean, like, not.

[A]

Everything is calling out for a rebranding.

[B]

No, that definitely is not. That drives me nuts.

[A]

Okay, Robin in Brooklyn, welcome to all of it. Do you have a question?

[D]

I do, yeah. Thanks for having me. So I live in a neighborhood I've never been able to know the exact name of, but it's kind of where Bed Stuy meets Fort Greene meets South Williamsburg. And it's right by a Home Depot. So I always just call that neighborhood by the Home Depot. Maybe there's a.

[B]

Well, okay, I don't know quite exactly. I have to probably look at a map. I could probably figure it out.

[A]

Maybe by the Home Depot could become.

[B]

An acronym HO D. Yeah, like be HO D. But. But here's the thing, is that that's actually what, like, in the, like 19th century, that's mostly how people refer to their neighborhoods. Like the, you know, there were. There are certain old neighborhoods that. That were used. Like, like Murray Hill, for instance, is. Was in vogue back in the 19th century. But like most people said, they lived by things. It was like it was defined by landmarks. So what's interesting is, like, if we're having a naming structure that was very 19th century oriented. Yeah, you would actually call it by the Home Depot if we had such a thing back in the 19 century. So, you know, I mean, again, like this kind of idea of like naming everything, every single inch of land gets a little silly when you get to things like that, where it's like. No, it just makes people know it more if you just name it by the landmark.

[A]

212-433-9692. We're talking about New York City neighborhoods. New York City neighborhood names. Davidson in Manhattan. Welcome.

[F]

Thank you. I'm enjoying your show very much. I moved to New York in the early 1970s, and I live near 29th and 5th Avenue, sort of where Marble Collegiate Church is. In those days, it was called East Midtown. There were a lot of businesses East Midtown, this, that or the other. Now they're calling it Nomad, north of Madison Square Park. It's been called that, I think, for about the last 10 years. I thought it was rather silly when I started they started calling it that. I've gotten used to it now, so I don't know where they came up with that, but I'm sure it was a real estate thing.

[B]

So my first apartment in New York, I moved here in the early 90s and it was there, it was actually at 23rd and Park. So it would be technically, I guess, a part of or right near Nomad. Um, Nomad is an example of something that, like, I begrudgingly use because it kind of rolls more off the tongue. So Nomad is something you can kind of like, use a lot more easily. It also kind of. It's like underscoring a certain kind of new development that happened in that area. I mean, I don't remember if you remember, like in the 90s, it was a little bit run down. Like, I remember I used to not go to the park, which seems crazy, like Madison Square Park. But then, like, a lot of money got infused into it starting in the late 90s, into the 2000. And so like a sort of a new cultural influx of especially these, like, trendy hotels. So to me, when I hear Nomad, it's. I think they were calling the Whole neighborhood. To me, they're calling the culture of that neighborhood Nomad, in a sense, because the buildings are. Many of them are super historic. They're from. I mean, the. You know, it's the Flatiron Building. You know, to me, in a sense, I would even call. I would still call it the Flatiron District. It is in the halo of Flatiron or Madison, or do what they did in the old days and say, I live next to Madison Square park, you know.

[A]

Right, right, exactly. We are gonna get to more of your calls in just a moment. Very quickly, though, do you have a favorite New York City neighborhood name?

[B]

Okay, putting you on the spot. No, no, no. This goes back and forth because there's so many interesting stories. But I'm gonna pick one right now and say City island out in the Bronx, because its name's. Cause you go to City island, it's like this really beautiful. It's almost respite. It's very suburban. But in the early 19th century, when, you know, like, this city was starting to begin developing, but, like, up there, it was still very rural and still undeveloped. A developer came in and was like, I'm going to make this the new port of New York. Okay. So he wanted to move the port from basically lower Manhattan to this area of the Bronx. And to do so and to kind of sell the whole area, he bought the island and named it New City island because it was like, this is where the new city is going to be centralized. Well, of course, all that fell through the word name. I mean, so the word new fell off of it. But the fact that it's still City island, it just. It talks about the kind of, like, the potentials of New York. And we have so many stories like that. Astoria is actually very similar to that, too, where it's like, the name is as an aspiration of, like, we're going to be this. And it didn't quite get there. But we still have the name of the. Of the good try that they tried to make.

[A]

Well, a good try they tried to make. So we're speaking with Greg Young, co host of the Bowery Boys Podcast. I want to read this text. Loving this segment. Your guest just got a new listener.

[B]

Oh.

[A]

I live in East Williamsburg, which to anyone who has lived here for 10 plus years, calls it Bushwick.

[B]

Mm.

[A]

My first apartment in the city was on the border of Astoria and Long Island City. It's now called Dutch Kills.

[B]

Yes, I think Dutch Kills. That's. That's interesting because, again, I think that, like, that it may be an old name of something, but is brought back because as the whole neighborhood gets redefined based on, like, high rises, you know, like, rising rents, it gets broken down a little bit more. And so, like, somebody took an old name and they called it Dutch Kills. I mean, I. I would still call that Long Island City slash historia, depending on where you're at, but that's just me. And then, like, the whole East Williamsburg thing is. Is very funny. East. East Williamsburg, Bushwick, Greenpoint, all. There's, like, this whole area where, like, I feel like that it's. You could call it any of that and be. Be somewhat right. I had a friend who bought a business there, like, 15 years ago, and it was at this area where he was like, what neighborhood is this? I was like, honestly, I couldn't tell you. I was like, I don't. I don't know where this is. You're just, like, five blocks from Williamsburg, five blocks from Bushfolk, you know, I was like, I don't know what this. So today, everything is a lot more defined over there because it's. It's a lot more trendy and more expensive to live.

[A]

I'm just becoming more and more fascinated by this. I want to take another call. Nicole in Ocean Hill, Brooklyn. Welcome to all of it.

[E]

Hi. Loving this segment. I've been in New York for almost 30 years. I started off in Alphabet City, not sure if that's still called that, but then lived in Greenpoint. And now I have been in Ocean Hill, Brooklyn, for about 10 years. And I have two parts of this. I wanted to ask. I actually had someone staring at my property one day, and I asked him, oh, what are you doing here? Like, what are you looking at? And her grandmother, who was Italian, used to live in the Ocean Hill area. And then I did a little research, and I found this area actually was founded by Italians. And I just wondering if you know any of the history of this area. And then my second part is.

[D]

Is that.

[E]

But from what I understand, Ocean Hill is part of the bigger Bedford Stuyvesant area.

[B]

Yeah.

[E]

And I believe there's, like, four or five neighborhoods within that. And how does that work? And why do they break it up like that? If you can kind of clarify that for me. Cause it's so confusing.

[B]

Well, so Bedford Stuyvesant, obviously, those are kind of old, like, names. They're streets. Those are names from, like, the 18th century. Stuyvesant's even older. Ocean Hill is, again, one of these developments. The thing to remember about Brooklyn, which is interesting, Is Brooklyn was until the 1890s, not all of what Brooklyn is today. You know, Brooklyn, Brooklyn was actually, it started as this little village, which is basically where Brooklyn Heights is. And there were several other little villages. Like Flatbush was its own village. You know, Gravesend is. It was its own village. It was partly. Coney island was part of it. And so it's when they became closer to consolidating with the rest of New York is when Brooklyn kind of got bigger and bigger and eventually takes up the whole, like what we call Brooklyn today. But then if you think about places like Ocean Hill, there would not have been any kind of real development at all. But then knowing that consolidation was going to be happening and then with all these populations moving out of congest New York and going into these other boroughs is when that neighborhood would have been like a proper developed neighborhood. And you would have seen, if you go through like an old newspaper, you can probably find literal ads. It's like, go move to Ocean Hill. Like, like back when no one lived there, you know, I mean, it's sort of a certain plan development, probably around older structures, but mostly a planned development.

[A]

And thank you for all of the phone calls and texts. We could only get to a fraction of them. And Greg, people wanted to follow up.

[B]

Get some more information.

[A]

What would be the best thing if they have more questions to track down your podcast, the Bowery Boys.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, so for instance, our show last week is all on this magical noho. I mean, there's a. It's our sister podcast, the Gilded Gentleman recorded it, but it's about the history of that neighborhood. But the whole kind of joke or running gag is that no one back then used this name, but we use this name to describe the whole thing. So I would say, listen to our podcast. We also have a website, barryboyshistory.com and that is where you'll find all sorts of little articles that I've written over the years. If you just go to the little search bar, type in like Ozone Park. That's a good one because the history is just incredible to me. Like Wall street. Type in Wall street. You'll learn all about the, you know, how that was named, things like that. So go to our podcast and our.

[A]

Website, that's barryboyshistory.com boweryboyshistory.com to follow up again. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the calls this hour. Greg Young, co host of the long running New York City history podcast, the Bowery Boys. Thanks for joining us.

[B]

Thank you. This was a delight. I'm going to go back into Hudson Square, SoHo, wherever, I don't know.

[A]

You can turn off your brain now. Rest for a minute.

[G]

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