I Flunked Geography

The other day, I looked at a map of New York and discovered that the City of Syracuse is not located where I thought it was. I had always believed it to be due north of Albany along New York's eastern boundary. Rather, it finds itself dead center in the state. I also learned that somewhat-familiar and funny-sounding municipalities like Poughkeepsie and Schenectady are not part of the immediate New York City metropolitan area. I had heard of them, but always assumed they were somewhere north of The Bronx, "up there by Yonkers or something." I didn't know where the Catskills are or any other mountain ranges, lakes and rivers in the state. I realized that I'm acquainted with New York City, but New York State might as well be a foreign country.

New York City is its own little world relative to the State. Probably because it is a mini version of the world. I wonder if NYC and northeast New Jersey just started floating toward the ocean. If no one said anything, would I even notice? And when I finally did, how much time would have passed?

This creates something of an identity gap. Hierarchically speaking, in Minneapolis I would have said I live in Minneapolis, in Hennepin County, in Minnesota, and in the United States. Here, I identity myself as living in the Kensington neighborhood, in Brooklyn, in New York City, and in the United States. The notion of being a New York State resident just doesn't factor because I never think about it.

If anything, I think of myself as a WI/MN State resident living in NYC. Maybe it's just a matter of time before the residency ties to my roots become weaker, but maybe they'll remain strong. The overwhelming majority people I know in NYC are not from New York City or State. I should discuss this with my friends in the city, but perhaps it fair to say we share the common characteristic of living in New York City, but our hometowns are what we use to keep us unique in this crazy place. The reality of being a New York resident will hit me soon. I'm doing my taxes this weekend.