Why do people think New York City is the only place in New York?

Question

I hear it all the time. 'I am from New York' and I ask where and they act like I am stupid and they say 'The City'. Well, guess what, New York City makes up only .5% of the State. Why are people so ignorant to this fact?

Answer 1

It may only be 5% of the state, but it's 47% of the population, with 70% living within 40 miles of it.
I used to live in Ithaca, and I travel a lot overseas, and people are stunned that there is farmland, hills and lakes in New York. They don't equate those words with anything but the city.

Answer 2

They have the same perspective that people have when they think of the state I was born in--Illinois. They think everyone is from Chicago, even though it's tucked away in the very northeast corner of the state. Anywhere south of that, for some reason, is considered "southern Illinois." I think it's because 1. the majority of the population is from that area, and 2. it's the place people hear the most about when they hear anything about that state.

Answer 3

Hey, most people don't even realize that "NEW YORK" ( the city) is actually made of of FIVE boroughs! Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx... and within that, there are smaller sections of each borough, and they have names, too.
Take Coney Island, for instance, it's in NY, the borough of Brooklyn, in the state of New York.

Answer 4

Because you have to mention your town just as a Newyorker adds the word "City" when mentioning the place he/she is coming from. You're not that unique: Washington D.C. & Washington state, Mexico D.F & Mexico the country, Quebec City & Quebec the province... welcome to the world.

Answer 5

Because no one cares about the rest of the state.

Answer 6

Because it's the only part of the state that they know of.