A couple of comments:

If one is on Wall Street and is heading for the subway, one certainly might say "I'm heading uptown to SoHo."

I have many friends, both newcomers and lifelong NYers, who live in the outer boroughs who refer to Manhattan as "the city." I always find that amusing.

even though i have absolutely no interest in this topic it has been a thoroughly entertaining thread to read. thank you new yorkers.
"downeast" IS a maine term. it seems to be somewhere on the coast, but few if any people here in maine can tell you where exactly. i know the weatherman throws it out every so often, more in winter i think. we also have the "nor'easter" which indicates windy,rainy weather coming from somewhere in nova scotia - kinda like the hurricanes come from the sahara.
p.s. here in my town "downtown" refers to a one block area so we have less confusion...

Patrick,
You simply have no idea as to what you're delving into. What works for Florida doesn't worke here in NY.

I am 100% sure that your cab driver was referring to geographical location. I know because I live on Upper East Side and take the cab to and from work everyday. You're probably used to getting that quizzical and dumfounded look from the cab drivers when you'd take a cab from, say 70th Streetand tell the cab driver to take you "downtown to 50ths street".

And since you apparently still cannot get what my (and everybody else in NY) concept on "uptown" and "downtown" subway direction, there is obviously something lacking with your ability to comprehend.

>>>"I have many friends, both newcomers and lifelong NYers, who live in the outer boroughs who refer to Manhattan as "the city." I always find that amusing."<<<

Gekko, we find these people in the outer boroughs who refer to our city as "the city" amusing, too. You're right, these are the only people who would refer to Soho as "uptown".

If advice is from a former Jerseyite, does that affect credibility. I'll keep the name to myself, for now, since chivalry would be everything, I suspect.

I don't know anyone who refers to SoHo as "uptown."

But that's not the issue presented here. The issue is whether or not it makes sense to say &quot;I'm going uptown to Soho.&quot; And the answer is <i>Of course it does</i>. If one is on Canal Street walking to the 6 train to take to Spring Street, it makes perfect sense to say &quot;I'm heading uptown to SoHo.&quot; Uptown simply means north. Get it? Perhaps I should type slowly?

I'm with you on this one, Gekko. Folks, we will never agree if we continue to mix up the various meanings of uptown and downtown.

1. General areas of Manhattan. There seems to be pretty universal agreement on this.

2. Direction. Uptown is north of wherever you are, downtown is south of wherever you are <i>when used in this context.</i> So while you would never say that Soho is &quot;uptown,&quot; you might very well say you are &quot;heading uptown&quot; to Soho if you were south of Soho when you said it.

To beat this particular dead horse, you have only to imagine standing on the corner of Broadway and Leonard with a friend, discussing whether you can share a cab. &quot;I'm heading downtown to Wall Street,&quot; he says. &quot;Too bad,&quot; you reply, &quot;I'm going uptown to Soho.&quot;

3. With an article in front of it, e.g., <i>the</i> uptown, it means the bus or train heading in that direction.

J Correa, where the heck are you anyway? We want to know not only how very wrong your friend is, but how much money you won on this bet and whether you're buying the next round. :-D

Billy Boy you are showing your total unability to listen here. Even Gekko, (whom I rarely agree with) is totally able to understand what I'm saying. Anyone with any sense should be able to tell the difference between

&quot;I'm going to uptown&quot;
and
&quot;I'm going uptown&quot;.

But thanks for teaching me for my next trip to New York. Now I know if I've been at South Street Seaport, for example, and I want to go to Soho by subway, when I enter the station, I must be sure to go to the platform that says &quot;downtown&quot; to get to Soho, since it is downtown. If I get on one that says &quot;uptown&quot; I can't get to Soho. That is so good to know, I most certainly would have gotten on the uptown one, thinking I could get off when I got to Soho. Thank you so much for straightening me out.
And for the record, I have NOT referred to Soho as uptown. I have only referred to the direction to get there if you start out further south of there as going &quot;uptown&quot; to get to Soho.

But I will not continue this battle of wits with a person who is only half armed. I've made my point as clearly as possible.

Well - first of all - it's not referred to as &quot;the city&quot; - it's referred to as &quot;The City&quot;. And not only by people from the outer boroughs.

(I think I have a little perspective here not only as a native New Yorker - but as one unto the third or fourth generation - depending on which side of the family.)

I had older family members who lived most of their lives in The City - some in Hells Kitchen, some on106th street. And they too refrrred to Manhattan as The City - both once they finally removed to the outer boroughs (Astoria, Sunnyside etc.) but even when referring to Manhattan to other family members who had already moved.

So I don;t think it's an origin thing - perhaps at least partly a generational one.

(And The City doesn;t just mean Manhattan vs the outer boroughs - it means The City - like Gotham, the Big Apple - vs all the other non-cities - like Chicago, Los Angeles etc.)

I'm a native New Yorker (both parents were transplants) and I've lived most of my life in Queens. When I'm in the boroughs, The City means Manhattan. When I'm outside NYC, The City refers to the entire city. Most people I know use the term this way.

Guess what? We call SF &quot;The City&quot; out here as well. As far as I know, it's used by those who actually live there as well as those who live outside of it but in the larger SF Bay Area.

Goodmorning Marilyn! I was just reading the last posts on this thread and was thinking the very same thing. The City in N Ca refers to San Francisco.

&quot;The city&quot; obviously has different connotations even to those who grew up there. When I was a kid we lived in the city. I wanted to move out to the country. Instead we moved out to the suburbs and my father went to work in the city. When he moved back to the city I would visit him there. We'd go to the city to shop and do city things. I assumed people in all cities spoke this way. Never occurred to me that it meant anything special about New York.

Patrick,

For once it didn't take you 2 consecutive posts just to embarrassingly corner yourself with more dimwitted explanation of your side of the story.

Inasmuch as I think that your response is a complete waste of bandwith, I will refuse to allow someone like you who is totally unarmed insofar as wits and common sensical comprehension are concerned.

Oh, so I was right. You STILL don't get it, do you.

I grew up on long island and old timers there do say up island meaning going out to the eastern shore and down island, going towards The City -- which is what they all call manhattan,although I haven't heard those terms in a long time maybe since my grandfather died.
I don't get this argument about uptown and downtown. anyone who lives in manhattan knows that the terms refer to direction as well as places. billyboy have you ever been to manhattan? have you ever taken an uptown or downtown subway?

Sorry to butt in, earl30.

Not hearing about NYC not being referred to as &quot;The City&quot; tells me you're the one who has never been to Manhattan. So, how long has it been since your grandfather died?

sorry, that's not what I meant. sure, everyone calls Manhattan THE CITY. I meant I don't hear the terms upisland and downisland since my grandfather died.

Now you've made yourself more ambiguous, earl.
What are you talking about? That sounds so 1800's to about 1910's. Were you alive then?

As a non New Yorker I wouldn't mind being told I don't know what I'm talking about so much,
but why is Billy_Boy insisting that Gekko and Marilyn don't know what they're talking about either? Both have also clearly explained the idea of uptown and downtown being directions as well as areas. And as far as I know they are both New Yorkers.