Thursday, June 17, 2021

Grant Shaffer's NY See

Here's the latest NY See panel, East Village-based illustrator Grant Shaffer's observational sketch diary of things that he sees and hears around the neighborhood and NYC... (click on the image for a bigger view)

20 comments:

creature said...

Sad but true. great work, Grant.

Beacon, NY said...

The general laymen term for "Upstate NY" coming NYC residents is a generic place north of the Bronx.

Lyme disease is the most prevalent in the Hudson River Valley region, especially the areas surrounding Beacon. More than half of the counties located in this region, self-employed residents must pay a commuter tax to the MTA even though they've never taken the Metro North trains that connect them to NYC.

Contrast greatly with regions north of Albany, the state's capital which has significantly lower cases of tick borne diseases and their residents aren't anywhere near NYC thus no MTA is in their midst which means no commuter taxes remitted to them.



Anonymous said...

aha - confirmation that these people just lie to each other. thanks!

stephen b said...

Nothing short of excellent

New York, NY said...

@Beacon, NY That was what you thought about after reading this cartoon?

Anonymous said...

@Beacon: "...self-employed residents must pay a commuter tax to the MTA even though they've never taken the Metro North trains that connect them to NYC." - and I don't own a car but I help pay for the upkeep of the roads that the folks you are writing about use daily. And so it goes.

Beacon, NY said...

The cartoon has the word "Upstate" hinting the large exodus of city residents migrating into the regions north of the city since the pandemic has started. The word is too generic since most NYC residents think the northern regions away from the city are upstate and they are all the same but nothing can be further from the truth.

The residents of Westchester County have recently made complaints of the exploding noises emanating from the souped up cars that have shaken some of them in their quiet communities. Westchester which borders the Bronx, this being a carry over from the city since residents in the EV have also addressed similar complaints of cars and bikes with loud exploding noises from the souped up engines during the night.

Occasionally, we have been getting some of it in the Mid Hudson Valley, Westchester is in the Lower Hudson, presumably guys have been driving their loud cars up into our region. If this becomes a common phenomenon affecting the quality of life throughout the Hudson River Valley, this being a spillover from NYC, I think I might need to reconsider and abandon Beacon and NYC altogether and move up into the regions north of the state's capital of Albany, which is indeed "Upstate NY" where I presume none of this NYC dysfunctional vibe is able to make its way up there so I can enjoy peace and quiet at all times.

New York, NY said...

@Beacon,NY, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

DrGecko said...

"Upstate" means everything north of 14th Street.

Anonymous said...

If it actually exists. I don’t believe there’s anything above 14th and it’s just a legend for kids.

Anonymous said...

I get nosebleeds if I venture higher than 14th St.

Beacon, NY said...

Hudson River Valley isn't Upstate NY when troublemakers from NYC find their way up there. Believe or not, ABC7 News from the city is actually a popular channel in the region.

Beacon, NY said...

@ 5:15

The region just north of the city isn't Upstate simply because of the commuter taxes accessed by the MTA.

Furthermore, the court system in most of the counties are lumped with NYC's courts.

We can't say the same for places above Albany such as Rochester, Buffalo or one of those places up by the Canadian border which are indeed Upstate.

Anonymous said...

Speaking as a classically educated maptographer who has a doctorate in maps, there are three known regions of New York State: New York City, Long Island, and upstate.

I am a maptographer. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Last I checked Buffalo is due west of Albany

Beacon, NY said...

"Speaking as a classically educated maptographer who has a doctorate in maps, there are three known regions of New York State: New York City, Long Island, and upstate"

It would not make any sense to group the entire region north of New York City as Upstate NY. The same way it would not make any sense to lump Long Island with New York City because it shares the same land mass with Brooklyn and Queens.

Self-employed residents who live in most of the counties in the Hudson River Valley need to pay a commuter tax to the MTA if they reach a certain amount of income which also applies to the residents living in Nassau and Suffolk Counties in Long Island.

Anonymous said...

I share @Beacon’s abhorrence that ordinary NYC citizens are not analyzing MTA tax applicability, court systems, and tick prevalence in order to define Upstate

Beacon, NY said...

According to the I Love NY website, there are 11 regions of NY State.

https://www.iloveny.com/places-to-go/

NYC is this vast urban area that makes other parts of NY State appear suburban or rural in comparison hence this bias that any place north of the Big Apple is just "Upstate NY".

I believe this pandemic will transform NY State completely specifically with its urban areas far north of the city which were once seen as urban blights. I predict that other NY cities with significant skylines like Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo will attract a lot of tech companies in the near future where they evolve into a San Francisco albeit without the great weather due to the lower real estate costs.

Beacon, NY said...

This morning I took a stroll along the Stuyvesant Town walking grounds on 14th St and Ave B only to find a moving a truck parked with the name "Adirondack Moving Company" with a contact number starting with a 518 area code, which is for the Albany and Capital Region area.

Upstate NY indeed and perhaps another moment where NYC folks are moving north of the city.

New York, NY said...

@Beacon: Hope you’re joining them. I think you’ll be happier. And we won’t miss your small town griping.