Why does Simon Winchester describe the Van Wyck expressway(Queens NY) as “amusingly misnamed”?
"…stream of trucks and private cars and yellow taxis, mostly coming back from Kennedy Airport the lomng way, because of reported traffic jams on the amusingly misnamed Van Wyck Expressway. (p. 179 “A Vast Ocean of a Million Stories”)
Isn’t the answer right there in the quote?
I think the confusion is that the misnaming has nothing to do with the Van Wyck part, but rather the Expressway part (it took me a second also, since I tend to think of the name of something as being the unique part, rather than the generic part).
Yes, you’re right. I read too much into it. Winchester is deeply knowledgeable about his subject and I read it thinking there was something else to it.
The LIE (Long Island Expressway) has always been described as the world’s longest parking lot. Similar concept?
I always thought Van Wyck was one of the original Dutch. Turns out he was Robert Anderson Van Wyck, first mayor after the consolidation. I’ll probably forget this fact the next time the Van Wyck Expressway comes up in conversation. In twenty years…
They say no one has even beaten the Van Wyck…
(2) Seinfeld - Elaine Driving Story (Airport) - YouTube
If it hasn’t been for that 5-car pileup…
At the other end of the spectrum, there’s the amusingly well-named Outerbridge Crossing.
Yup. I grew up 3 blocks from it. We called it the Long Island Distressway.