Outside the Mars Bar from 2009
That's the question posed in a New York Times piece examining a small but increasingly noticeable shift in how New Yorkers talk about neighborhood names.
The article centers on the growing tendency — especially among younger New Yorkers and newcomers — to drop the definite article, saying "East Village" instead of "the East Village" (and "West Village" instead of "the West Village").
The trend has sparked spirited debate online, with longtime residents arguing that omitting "the" just sounds wrong.
The story cites New York City walking tour guide Nicky Shapiro, whose TikTok video urging people to "hold onto their articles" drew hundreds of comments.
Some readers blamed social media and abbreviated speech, while others said dropping "the" is simply more efficient.
The Times also notes that neighborhood signs and maps typically omit articles for space, which may contribute to the confusion, and points to other naming debates, from "the Bronx" versus "Bronx" to the use of "L.E.S." for the Lower East Side.
As for us? We'll be over here in the East Village.
9 comments:
Long live the East Village....
"The East Village is, face it New Yorkers, the Lower East Side." — Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York (1973, Gail Parent, Bantam Paperback)
Born and raised Staten Island, NY 53 y.o. ago but my heart ❤️ is always in THE East Village. Leave THE word IN for F***KS sake 😘
I am a frequent reader and sometime contributor to The EV Grieve.
If you fail to use "the" you should automatically get a 20% rent hike because your transplant butt can handle it
Will truth is kids have been saying East and West village for YEARS now.
Arrivistes, transplants, real estate folk, bridge-and-tunnel crowd, Tik Tokers, 2-3 year transients and tourists- you don't belong here if you don't say THE East Village..
We refer to one borough as The Bronx, but if you mail a letter we generally write Bronx, NY on the envelope.
It’s nice to see that some of us are finding the time for this ridiculous conversation
I've lived at 9 St. & 2nd Ave. for 50+ years. I live in the Lower East Side. After years of being considered a backwater, forgotten, and dangerous neighborhood, Real Estate interests "discovered" us & came up with East Village hoping to create a little cachet to garner the historic glamour and $$$ of Greenwich Village.
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