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

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.

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...”

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?”

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.

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.

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.)

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.

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.