What is "I'm going uptown to Soho", Patrick? What are you talking about?

Even in a diverse culture like NYC, NOBODY here would refer to Soho as uptown as you just did simply because it is incorrect. A directional statement such as "I'm taking the UPTOWN and I'll get off at Spring St." is correct.

I've never heard anyone say "I'm taking the uptown." More likely would be "I'm taking the train uptown."

If you've never heard the phrase 'I'm taking the uptown..." or even when you ask for directions and were told to "Take the uptown to ..." then you obviously haven't taken the trains or buses in Noo Yawk.

FWIW, are you from around here to make such claims?

Billy boy, you didn't understand me at all. I DID not use UPTOWN to describe Soho as an area. You are simply wrong if you think no one would come out of a building anywhere in Manhattan to get a taxi and have someone say, "are you going uptown or downtown" and the person would say "uptown" and then get off ten or twelve blocks north -- even if he only went to Soho. I was using it as direction, and people in New York do that sometimes -- in fact often.

Thank you Scarlett

Patrick,
Are you just not paying attention to what you write? You wrote "I'm going uptown to Soho". There's no ifs and/or buts here, it is clear that you referred to Soho as an "uptown" area. You didn't use the word "uptown" in a directional sense as you are now claiming to be.

Are you also having difficulties comprehending what I write? If you read my other posts, the words "uptown" and "downtown" can be used for directional purposes (i.e. when taking trains and buses). You even used a bad example as we don't even like to use it for directional purposes with cabs, especially if we're taking one from downtown and we're actually just going to, say, 53rd Street. We'll just tell the cab driver "Mr. cab driver, 53rd and 3rd, please.... and step on it!".

J_Correa

Are we never to know what the argument was?

billy boy, FWIW, I do not live in NY now. I did live there at one time for 4 years, and have been coming to NY on business and pleasure 2-3 times per year for the past 25 years. I have close family in NY as well as about a dozen good friends.

People I know are more inclined to say "going uptown" than "taking the uptown" (using uptown in that case not as a geographic area, not as a direction, but as a shorthand for the uptown train).

But honestly, I don't think we are disagreeing about the meaning or location of uptown and downtown. Just a little semantics.

In a geographical sense, downtown is the financial district.

In a fashion sense, downtown is SoHo/East Village. Downtown intellectual is Prada.

Uptown is Daniel, the Upper East Side, any expense account Midtown Restaurant, or Bergdorfs.

Directionally, downtown is toward Brooklyn and Uptown is toward the Bronx.

Floyd:
Up Up Up Up Up... and Down Down Down Down Down...
But in the end, its only Round and Round...

The Bronx is up and the Battery's down,
the people ride in a hole in the ground.

New York, New York
It's a wonderful town!!

Everybody sing!


"...Dooowwwwnnntowwnnnn....."

Uptowwwwwwwwwn, Girl

Billy Boy, who isn't thinking here? Have you ever heard the expression "I'm heading north to ___" You could use that term in southern Florida and stay in the same town. You could walk out a building and go north one block. North in that case doesn't refer to a geographic area, it refers to a direction of travel. Being at the southern tip of Manhattan and saying "I'm going uptown" or "I'm heading uptown to _____" is no different than saying "I'm going north" or "I'm heading north to _____" That is not the same as saying "I'm going TO uptown." Do you get it yet???

By the way, YOU may not like to use the terms with cabs, but I have the personal experience of flagging down a taxi on a midtown cross street, and before letting me in the taxi, the driver asking me "are you going uptown or downtown?" So you may not like the term as direction, but cab drivers certainly do!
By the way, what he asked me was only referring to direction -- he was NOT asking me if I was going TO uptown or going TO downtown? Do you see the difference yet?

Also, Billy Boy, I guess by your reasoning, if I got on a subway at the bottom of Manhattan and took a train going "uptown", they won't let me off until I get north of 59th? I didn't know that. I thought I could get on an uptown train and get off at the next stop if I wanted to, even if I were still downtown.

Downtown historically has always been south of 14th street. I can't imagine communicating with anyone who would say they were going uptown to SoHo......this from someone who lived in Manhattan for 25 yrs......most of which was spent Downtown (SoHo & Greenwich Village).

nn, as someone who stays downtown frequently, in the Financial District to be specific, I have said many times "I am heading Uptown", in reference to the Village, Chelsea, and the LES.

While I believe this post was answered by it's first responder, I offer that when a person says they work downtown you can assume they mean the Wall St. area.
When a person says they live uptown, they mean the Upper East or West Sides of Manhattan.
"The Trips" has become a street term referring to the triple-digit streets of far-north Manhattan.
I live downtown in SoHo and rarely travel to midtown which, in my opinion, is just above Chelsea on the west side and Gramercy on the east.