# Question for New Yorkers - The Jeffersons? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 27, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680 "2018-02-27T17:14:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/41 "2018-03-01T18:25:18Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > It was obviously a prestige move. The theme song sequence says that blatantly. One of the constant themes of the show was “fish out of water” especially in George Jefferson’s case. They even got a full-time maid, Florence, even though she hardly ever did anything just for show. Well, [except be the sassy no-nonsense responder to ridiculous off-the-cuff misapprehensions of George and others](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mWuv1BXI_wE). Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/42 "2018-03-02T02:02:18Z")
Not being a New Yorker, what’s wrong with Staten Island? If I were forced to live in New York City (and got to choose where), Staten Island seems like it would be an ideal place to be as un-city-like as possible. I mean, Long Island would be better, but I’d not meet the qualification of being forced to live in the NYC limits. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/43 "2018-03-02T02:12:05Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Not being a New Yorker, what’s wrong with Staten Island? If I were forced to live in New York City (and got to choose where), Staten Island seems like it would be an ideal place to be as un-city-like as possible. I mean, Long Island would be better, but I’d not meet the qualification of being forced to live in the NYC limits. You’re missing the point. New Yorkers _like_ being New Yorkers. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/44 "2018-03-02T02:15:17Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Not being a New Yorker, what’s wrong with Staten Island? If I were forced to live in New York City (and got to choose where), Staten Island seems like it would be an ideal place to be as un-city-like as possible. I mean, Long Island would be better, but I’d not meet the qualification of being forced to live in the NYC limits. That’s where we put our garbage. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/45 "2018-03-02T02:17:47Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Not being a New Yorker, what’s wrong with Staten Island? If I were forced to live in New York City (and got to choose where), Staten Island seems like it would be an ideal place to be as un-city-like as possible. I mean, Long Island would be better, but I’d not meet the qualification of being forced to live in the NYC limits. Fresh Kills, red ‘gravy’, and Jersey Italianos that make Tony Soprano and his crew look like Harvard professors. Oh, and the fact that the only way to Manhattan is the ferry (ugh) or the Verrazano Narrows (ugh-ugh). If you don’t want to live in the city, move to White Plains or Wichita. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/46 "2018-03-02T04:12:25Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Not being a New Yorker, what’s wrong with Staten Island? If I were forced to live in New York City (and got to choose where), Staten Island seems like it would be an ideal place to be as un-city-like as possible. I mean, Long Island would be better, but I’d not meet the qualification of being forced to live in the NYC limits. If you would only live in New York if you were “forced” to, then you would never understand. I’m from the Bronx. If I had to live in New York again, I would definitely want to live in Manhattan instead of one of the outer boroughs. The outer boroughs have all the disadvantages of urban life, with less of the advantages. Personally, I would rather live in either the middle of the city or way out in the boondocks. Suburbs like Long Island for me are the worst of both worlds. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/47 "2018-03-02T12:51:05Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Houses in Queens (standalone or part of a row) are a fraction of the cost of a condo on the Upper East Side. I have no clue what prices were like back then, but these days a house in Queens is probably a few hundred thousand dollars. A decent 2-3 bedroom condo on the Upper East Side would be a few million dollars. Well, Queens is a big place, but a quick real estate search of several different neighborhoods shows listings for houses in the 600K to 1M range. The estimate of “a few hundred thousand” seems way low for a house anywhere in Queens. ---
**Author:** ![AndyLee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@AndyLee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyLee)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/48 "2018-03-02T13:45:10Z")
You have to remember New York City LOST 822,000 people from 1970 to 1980. In the 70s the city was a joke. I recall watching Barney Miller and as a retirement present they all chipped in an gave the money to Wojo to buy Fish a gift and Wojo bought NY bonds. That was truly funny back then. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/49 "2018-03-02T15:33:12Z")
I think if it were up to Staten Island they would leave the City. I know many people there feel like they get stuck paying City taxes without more of the tangible benefits. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/50 "2018-03-02T16:44:37Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Yeah, we had another thread a little while ago about how Archie and Edith were supposed to be 50 in “All in the Family” and were old, old, old. Well, now I’m 50 and I’m not old. > > My response was that growing up during the Great Depression and then fighting in WWII is going to leave a mark. Jean Stapleton was exactly a week shy of her 48th birthday when the first episode of the first season of AITF aired on Jan. 12, 1971 (there had been pilots in 1968 and 1969, I see from Wiki). ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/51 "2018-03-03T21:49:45Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Personally, I would rather live in either the middle of the city or way out in the boondocks. Suburbs like Long Island for me are the worst of both worlds. I mentioned Long Island because I _thought it was_ the boondocks! The eastern part, anyway. And what’s this about “Hicksville”? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/52 "2018-03-03T23:14:39Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > [Here](https://www.google.com/maps/place/89-70+Cooper+Ave,+Flushing,+NY+11374/@40.7112195,-73.862256,15z/data=!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x89c25e13f25aa1f9:0xe1b5ada9033105da!2s89-70+Cooper+Ave,+Flushing,+NY+11374!3b1!8m2!3d40.712474!4d-73.860795!3m4!1s0x89c25e13f25aa1f9:0xe1b5ada9033105da!8m2!3d40.712474!4d-73.860795) it is -although you would have to know Flushing is in Queens to understand that from the address on the map I had the great misfortune of living in Flushing for a few months and that is definitely not Flushing. That’s Rego Park, despite what the map says. I wish I had lived near the only Trader Joe’s in the borough. > [@Quimby](#): > > I think if it were up to Staten Island they would leave the City. I know many people there feel like they get stuck paying City taxes without more of the tangible benefits. Who would miss it? It’s so much more Jersey than NYC. And since it was the only borough that went for Trump, good riddance. It’s an awful place whose only value is providing land for Interstate 278. As for brownstones, they are a relative rarity in Queens as compared to Brooklyn and Manhattan. Not sure why. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/53 "2018-03-04T00:07:21Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > I had the great misfortune of living in Flushing for a few months and that is definitely not Flushing. That’s Rego Park, despite what the map says. I wish I had lived near the only Trader Joe’s in the borough. Oh, it’s definitely not actually Flushing- although there’s probably some debate about whether it’s Rego Park or Glendale. But the map most likely says Flushing because Flushing can be used as the Post Office city for all the 113XX zip codes. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/54 "2018-03-04T00:38:36Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > Oh, it’s definitely not actually Flushing- although there’s probably some debate about whether it’s Rego Park or Glendale. But the map most likely says Flushing because Flushing can be used as the Post Office city for all the 113XX zip codes. It’s amazing all the ways they’ve cooked up to make addresses in Queens difficult to understand. The post office next to the Ditmars, Astoria subway stop says Woolsey Station, Long Island City, NY. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/55 "2018-03-04T01:38:52Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > It’s amazing all the ways they’ve cooked up to make addresses in Queens difficult to understand. The post office next to the Ditmars, Astoria subway stop says Woolsey Station, Long Island City, NY. It goes back to the introduction of [zip codes.](https://www.tripsavvy.com/queens-neighborhood-names-post-office-codes-2819239) The post office would no doubt have preferred to stick with the five “cities”, but residents continued to give their address with the neighborhood name. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/56 "2018-03-04T01:54:30Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > It’s amazing all the ways they’ve cooked up to make addresses in Queens difficult to understand. The post office next to the Ditmars, Astoria subway stop says Woolsey Station, Long Island City, NY. That’s for sure. I’ve never quite figured out the whole Astoria/ Long Island City thing and I’ve lived there for over 30 years. I guess that technically, Astoria is a subset of Long Island City ( the north half, basically,) but if there’s a real border I don’t know where it is. And some people still use LIC as the mail designation for places in Astoria. And it was only recently that the subway stations stopped using the positively archaic old avenue names ( the ones that predated the numbering system) alongside the current name. So the 30 Ave / Grand Ave station was not a station located between two streets. It was called that because many decades ago 30th Ave was called Grand Ave. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/57 "2018-03-04T03:00:28Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I’m from the Bronx. If I had to live in New York again, I would definitely want to live in Manhattan instead of one of the outer boroughs. The outer boroughs have all the disadvantages of urban life, with less of the advantages. Things have changed, bro. Manhattan living is the berries if you happen to have a multi-million dollar income and enjoy proximity to multiple Starbucks and Duane Reade drugstores. If you like independent bookshops, butchers who make their own sausages, and places that repair shoes, you got to come to Brooklyn. Although we are RAPIDLY being Manhattanized. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/58 "2018-03-04T04:04:35Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > If you would only live in New York if you were “forced” to, then you would never understand. > > I’m from the Bronx. If I had to live in New York again, I would definitely want to live in Manhattan instead of one of the outer boroughs. The outer boroughs have all the disadvantages of urban life, with less of the advantages. > > Personally, I would rather live in either the middle of the city or way out in the boondocks. Suburbs like Long Island for me are the worst of both worlds. I was never clear on how they define the “outer boroughs”? Is it all the boroughs other than Manhattan? Just the Bronx and Staten Island, which are a trek to get to? Is it any part of the non-Manhattan boroughs more than, say, 20 minutes or so by subway? Parts of Brooklyn and Queens are a short distance from Manhattan (like DUMBO or Long Island City). But I have one friend who lives out in Bay Ridge. There’s NO good way to see him. Either I drive an hour over the Verrazano or take the R train for hours. Personally, that’s why I like the Hoboken / Jersey City / Weehawken area now. It’s only a 10 minute ferry ride to Midtown or Lower Manhattan and it has a fair number of decent bars and restaurants in its own right. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/59 "2018-03-04T06:15:43Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I was never clear on how they define the “outer boroughs”? Is it all the boroughs other than Manhattan? Just the Bronx and Staten Island, which are a trek to get to? Is it any part of the non-Manhattan boroughs more than, say, 20 minutes or so by subway? > > Parts of Brooklyn and Queens are a short distance from Manhattan (like DUMBO or Long Island City). But I have one friend who lives out in Bay Ridge. There’s NO good way to see him. Either I drive an hour over the Verrazano or take the R train for hours. > Personally, that’s why I like the Hoboken / Jersey City / Weehawken area now. It’s only a 10 minute ferry ride to Midtown or Lower Manhattan and it has a fair number of decent bars and restaurants in its own right. It’s all the outer boroughs except Manhattan. It’s true that there may be some parts of Manhattan that are uncool, and a few parts of (mainly) Brooklyn that may be cool. But as a general rule, Manhattan is cool, and all of the other boroughs are uncool. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680/60 "2018-03-05T15:12:33Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Not being a New Yorker, what’s wrong with Staten Island? If I were forced to live in New York City (and got to choose where), Staten Island seems like it would be an ideal place to be as un-city-like as possible. I mean, Long Island would be better, but I’d not meet the qualification of being forced to live in the NYC limits. Why would you choose the worst part of New York City if you were “forced” to choose anywhere in New York City? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-new-yorkers-the-jeffersons/809680.md?page=4)