years ago i was visiting cousins newly moved to arkansas. their daughter had been invited to a birthday party, and so as we 'grown ups' chatted separately one lady asked where i lived. manhattan, i said. she thought i meant manhattan, kansas.
sounds like some of these short-sighted responders....
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For me, "Upstate" is north of Westchester. The Catskills are definitely Upstate.
The puzzle was "Downstate," which I heard only as an adult in the name, "Downstate Medical Center." Where the heck was Downstate supposed to be?
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Hi Lifelong - I know this (or at least know the folklore) because so many of the discount theater tickets I got when I was young were courtesy of SUNY Downstate Medical Center, which they say was so named to distinguish it from SUNY Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse.
Upstate? I thought anything north of 125th street was Canada.
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As a Brooklyn boy, born and bred the 5 boros is New York, everything North of the Bronx is upstate, sorry Yonkers...
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I’ve said this often enough to sound like a broken mantra: Not everybody can mediate. Beyond this, many folks don’t have the time, space or opportunity. The Times ongoing campaign for Om rule seems a little inappropriate in the face of genuine news.
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You sound like someone who should try it.
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It's one small feature - why be bothered?
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Meditation changes lives.
I consider upstate to be a direction, not a place. The economic development map broadly defines the places.
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As a Syracuse native and NYU graduate I have always abided by the Metro North definition, though my native city friends generally defined upstate as north of Westchester/Rockland. I think the people of Dutchess, Ulster, and Sullivan counties are sadly in an unclaimed no man's land.
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As a frequent visitor with family hailing from Pulaski and Rochester, I consider everything that is *NOT* in the 5 boroughs to be Upstate AKA "Fake New York"
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the football games need a recheck. Both Jets and Giants cannot be both hosting a game a 1pm.
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The Jets don't play this Sunday at all. They have a buy week. They play 11/26.
Verna--
That is done intentionally. The networks want you to watch their "game of the week" at 4PM.
The network wants to have a large national audience at 4 PM, & charge a premium $ for the commercials. They cannot do this if half or all of the NY audience is watching their own teams play. And what the networks want, the NFL does. So now both NY teams are finished at 4PM.
What are they going to buy? Thanksgiving turkeys?
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I second the answer north of 14th Street.
To a city resident, upstate is anything north of Westchester and Rockland counties.
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MEDITATION
Meditation takes me away
From the weary workdaday day
That keeps my thoughts confined.
Meditation's a state of mind.
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For Stress Relief, I'd suggest not starting the day off by reading the Politcal Section of the New York Times (like I tend to do)...and by counting your Blessings.
Isn't anything north of area code 914 upstate???
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I have been doing mindful Meditation once a week for 25 minutes at work and it is very calming and soothing. A true stress remover.
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As a child in the Bronx, upstate seemed to be any place that was green enough or characterized by mountains; the landscape became characteristic of the region. Today, I consider upstate to be north of Rockland and/or Westchester County, and I do so with uncertainty still.
I find it unnecessary to say "upstate" considering how ambiguous the term may be. Instead, I find myself simply referring to regions: the Palisades, Catskill, Adirondacks region, etc.
Brennan Ortiz
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Pelham Parkway, Bronx
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Jonathon, were there no negative reactions from any of the thirteen participants? Surely the three who did not complete the project did not extoll the benefits. Surely not all of the ten who completed plan on continuing.
We cannot reach an opinion on a subject if only the positive reactions are offered. It is an interesting subject; provide us with the negative reactions so that we can better judge the experiment. Thanks.
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After instruction from a very experienced teacher, I meditated every day for about a year, and did not feel any better about anything, nor any worse when I stopped.
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That was about my experience after meditating on and off for several years. Immediately afterward, I sometimes felt calmer, but five minutes later, I was back to the old me. While going about your daily activities, Mindfulness is supposed to be used to observe your behavior and responses, perhaps to create some detachment and help you understand that you have a choice in how to respond. For people who already spend a great deal of time in their heads observing themselves mindfulness is not helpful. This is not just my opinion, neuroscientists and psychiatrists have written about this.
Although I might try it again one day, right now I couldn't justify giving up 30 minutes every day when I could get the same benefit from a walk.
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Re Upstate: I'm past 70, born and grew up in Brooklyn, raised my family in the Bronx, and when the kids grew up and the dog died, moved to the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Whether vacationing or visiting family, "Upstate" was always north of Westchester, starting with Putnam County.
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I suspect any official definition, if one exists, would start beyond even Sullivan, Dutchess and Ulster counties and closer to the Albany region. On a map you can see that is natural starting point since it is beyond the part of New York that juts down towards NYC. At least that's what I thought. Over time I feel like Upstate has crept further South. Nowadays we New Yorkers will sarcastically say it's anything past Yonkers but certainly the Catskills are considered Upstate. Ask someone from Buffalo where it starts I bet they have a different answer.
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Upstate New York is anything north of Westchester county.
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I've always thought that "upstate" meant north of Westchester County.
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From the “And Finally” section - “We’ve even heard snarky Lower Manhattan residents say upstate lies above 14th Street.”
Maybe “upstate” to a lot of people is wherever the line is divided for a non-urban state of mind.
Tune of “Downtown” (a soothing Petula Clark version)
When it gets gritty being here in the City
You can always drive – Upstate
Tension has soared, you’re going out of your gourd
Might you feel more alive – Upstate
You’re thinking of the gridlock of which we’ve now been alerted
Thinking you might like a rest where streets feel more deserted
For a few days.
So maybe it’s what you seek
Dine in an empty café or go buy an antique
While you’re –
Upstate – maybe you’ll find it there
Upstate – far from the grind it’s there
Upstate – unwind, then come back next week!
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Upstate is a term relative to the City, so it applies only to the area near here, maybe up to Albany. Beyond there would be northern NY, western NY, central NY.
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"Upstate New York" is one county north or inland of wherever you live.
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I grew up in Suffolk County and anything north of the Bronx was considered upstate from there. (As in anything north of you is up.) However cousins in Rockland and Westchester Counties disagreed. So I started referring to it as mainland New York.
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Wonderful article on meditation. Folks should know that it can easily take 3 full years of daily meditation practice to truly get the hang of it. People who are highly stressed might see tangible results much sooner, but those without apparent stress might not be as easily aware of the results. If you want, you can write a diary, before you start meditation practice, of your daily worries, stress levels, negativity, etc. And then, start a diary as you meditate. Over time, you will see the difference.
A couple of links:
Meditation and its Methods - by Swami Vivekananda
.pdf file, complete text, online free.
Meditation Techniques to use in your spiritual search...
Swami Vivekananda was one of only a handful of souls recognized by Mahatma Gandhi as a living saint…
http://www.induslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/MEDITATION-AND-IT...
+++
9 Meditation Tips from Paramhansa Yogananda
(Paramahansa Yogananda was another rare mention by Gandhi as an actual saint)
https://www.ananda.org/daily-meditator/9-meditation-tips-from-paramhansa...
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I grew up in a tiny Hamptons hamlet called Remsenburg. It had a little red schoolhouse, a post office in a teeny house and absolutely nothing else except some pretty homes. Not a coffee shop, not a corner grocery, not a traffic light.
To us, upstate was everything north and west of Manhattan. There was The Beach, Long Island and Going Into The City. Upstate was a foreign country.
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