Dear NY Historians, etc.,


On 04/28/2000 (9:52:39 AM EDT), Peter Eisenstadt ([log in to unmask])
makes the following comment about the various "Postal Confusions" submissions
that were prompted by my original posting (on 04/21/2000 @ 1:57:52 PM EDT) on
the subject:

"I have been reading the various emails about so-called postal confusions in
New York State, and waiting for someone to point out that because of
overlapping jurisdictions of towns and villages, and pervasiveness of
unincorporated places and neighborhoods without formal legal status, but
which have named post offices, there are countless thousands of examples,
which to me raises the question of the usefulness of  the category.

Is a common postal addresses like "New York, New York"   an example of  a
postal confusion? By the standards of  the emails  on this question I
suppose so, since neither the name of the borough or the city is included in
the address,  but I can't imagine anyone being confused by it.  Post office
nomenclature is sometimes complex, but not all  complexities are confusions,
which more often than not  are in the eye of the beholder."


On the point of usefulness:  Most people do not understand that they do not
necessarily live in the community whose name is in their mailing address.

Right now the Census is counting people and the Census ignores the postal
map, using the true map of city, villages and hamlets (I've included a
glossary of NYS geographic terms after my name), but too many people
erroneously believe that the Census reports people by their "postal city".
Example:  When the census reports the population and income statistics for a
community (this is especially true for a hamlet) , people (and this includes
some major marketing firms) believe that these statistics are for the
postal-zone community and this is not true, at all.

Additionally -- and more important -- is the confusion over where a place is
actually located.  Let's take a place such as the county seat of Nassau
County.  The county seat -- The County Executive building, Supreme Court and
the County Court, the 3 key elements of a county seat -- are all inside the
Village of Garden City in the Town of Hempstead.  They are also all in the
service area of the "Mineola, NY 11501" postal zone.  (Mineola is a village
in the Town of North Hempstead.)

All the major media, led by the NY TIMES, continually misreport the location
of the county seat as being in "Mineola".

I suggest that when there is such a "postal confusion", both the community
and the postal zone community should be given.  In this case, it would be
Garden City (Mineola P.O.)


Now, regarding the "New York, NY" mailing address:

The U.S. Postal Service has divided the City of New York into 7+ postal
cities:

1. New York (covers Borough of Manhattan/New York County and the
Borough/County of the Bronx);

2. Staten Island (covers Borough of Staten Island//Richmond County);

3. Brooklyn (covers most of the Borough of Brooklyn/Kings County and parts of
the original Towns of Newtown and Jamaica in the northwest and southeast
sections, respectively of the Borough/County of Queens);

4. Long Island City (covers most of the original Town of Newtown in the
Borough/County of Queens);

5. Flushing (covers all of the original Town of Flushing and parts of the
Town of Newtown in the Borough/County of Queens and also parts of the
original Town of Bushwick in the Borough of Brooklyn/Kings County);

6. Jamaica (covers most of the original Town of Jamaica in the Borough/County
of Queens and a small area in the East New York part of the Town of New Lots
in the Borough of Brooklyn/Kings County); and,

7. Far Rockaway (covers the Rockaway peninsula in the Borough/County Queens).

Additionally, a few small areas in the Borough/County of the Bronx are
serviced by post offices located in Westchester County and hence have
"Westchester" mailing addresses, such as "Yonkers, NY", "Pelham Manor, NY",
etc.


I'm including (after my name) a NYS Geographic Glossary with the NYS
definitions of county, city, town, village, hamlet and postal zone.

I hope this information is useful or, at least, interesting.

Regards,

Walter Greenspan

There Are No Townships Here

.                The ZIP-zapping of New York State

Most people confuse terminology.  Many times a town is called "township" and
as many times, a hamlet is referred to as a town or village.  Adding to the
problem, there is great confusion between a community's border and the
border(s) of the (several) postal zone(s) that service that or part of that
community.

The LOCAL GOVERNMENT HANDBOOK, published by the State of New York Department
of State provides some useful help as it has the official definition of
cities, towns and villages.  (Townships and boroughs do not exist in New York
State and information about them is not included here.)  Copies of this
highly recommended publication can be obtained by eMailing
"[log in to unmask]".

     Cities, Towns, Villages, Hamlets and Postal Zones in New York State

New York State is divided into counties.

County
A county is a municipal corporation, a subdivision of the state, created to
perform state functions; a "regional" government  All counties are divided
into cities, towns and Indian reservations.

City
A city is a unique governmental entity with its own special charter.  Cities
are not sub-divided, except into neighborhoods which are informal geographic
areas.

Town
A town is a municipal corporation and encompasses all territory within the
state except that within cities or Indian reservations.  Towns can be
sub-divided into villages and hamlets.

Village
A village is a general purpose municipal corporation formed voluntarily by
the residents of an area in one or more towns to provide themselves with
municipal services.  The pattern of village organization is similar to those
of a city.  A village is divided into neighborhoods, which are informal
geographic areas.

Hamlet
A hamlet is an unincorporated area in one or more towns that is governed
at-large by the town(s) it is in.  A hamlet is divided into neighborhoods,
which are informal geographic areas.

Postal Zone "City" and "Town"
A postal zone "City" and "Town" is an administrative district established by
the U.S. Postal Service to deliver the mail.  Postal zone "City" and "Town"
may not (but are encouraged to) conform to municipal or community borders.
Thus, postal zone location does not always determine city, village or hamlet
location.


Please be aware:  In many areas of New York State, the problem of
non-conforming postal zones leads to a situation where the majority of places
have a different community name in their mailing address than the community
where that place is actually located.