# Why does Simon Winchester describe the Van Wyck expressway as "amusingly misnamed"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 15, 2022, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-simon-winchester-describe-the-van-wyck-expressway-as-amusingly-misnamed/961079 "2022-03-15T07:46:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-simon-winchester-describe-the-van-wyck-expressway-as-amusingly-misnamed/961079/1 "2022-03-15T07:46:03Z")
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”) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-simon-winchester-describe-the-van-wyck-expressway-as-amusingly-misnamed/961079/2 "2022-03-15T07:49:19Z")
Isn’t the answer right there in the quote? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-simon-winchester-describe-the-van-wyck-expressway-as-amusingly-misnamed/961079/3 "2022-03-15T08:00:38Z")
I think the confusion is that the misnaming has nothing to do with the Van Wyck part, but rather the _Express_way 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). ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-simon-winchester-describe-the-van-wyck-expressway-as-amusingly-misnamed/961079/4 "2022-03-15T08:18:10Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Kzbre5m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kzbre5m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kzbre5m)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-simon-winchester-describe-the-van-wyck-expressway-as-amusingly-misnamed/961079/5 "2022-03-16T14:58:35Z")
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](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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… ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-simon-winchester-describe-the-van-wyck-expressway-as-amusingly-misnamed/961079/6 "2022-03-16T17:18:03Z")
They say no one has even beaten the Van Wyck… [(2) Seinfeld - Elaine Driving Story (Airport) - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8AS_tisvQI) If it hasn’t been for that 5-car pileup… ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-simon-winchester-describe-the-van-wyck-expressway-as-amusingly-misnamed/961079/7 "2022-03-16T18:07:32Z")
At the other end of the spectrum, there’s the amusingly well-named [Outerbridge Crossing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outerbridge_Crossing). ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-simon-winchester-describe-the-van-wyck-expressway-as-amusingly-misnamed/961079/8 "2022-03-16T19:28:26Z")
> [@Kzbre5m](#): > > The LIE (Long Island Expressway) has always been described as the world’s longest parking lot. Similar concept? Yup. I grew up 3 blocks from it. We called it the Long Island Distressway.