It\u2019s an \u201cUp\u201d setting debate for suburbanites.<\/p>\n
New Yorkers have argued over where \u201cUpstate<\/a>\u201d begins for decades \u2013 with Westchester County <\/a>residents notoriously thin-skinned about being told they\u2019re on the \u201cup\u201d side of the invisible border.<\/p>\n The Post recently visited the Westchester city of Yonkers at the edge of the Bronx, hunting for the long-elusive line of demarcation and asking locals and passersby if this is the spot where Upstate begins.<\/p>\n East-facing view of McLean Ave. Tomas E. Gaston<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not,\u201d declared 33-year-old Yonkers resident Reaghan Giannello as she walked along McLean Avenue.<\/p>\n \u201cBronx<\/a> is one street over. Depending on where I am in my apartment, my GPS says New York City or Yonkers,\u201d the recreational therapist added. \u201cSpend a minute talking to us, we sound like we\u2019re from the Bronx. Upstate they say things differently. We\u2019re not in the city, but we\u2019re close enough. We don\u2019t have cows.\u201d<\/p>\n While many Gotham residents have long labeled anything beyond Yankee Stadium and the reaches of the subway \u201cupstate,\u201d Giannello was among the numerous suburbanites to snap back at that suggestion \u2013 while offering other questionable spots for the designation.<\/p>\n She claimed Dutchess County \u2013 a roughly 100-mile trip from Midtown Manhattan<\/a> \u2013 had upstate vibes.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s where you\u2019re starting to get cows and horses. We have street lights here, that\u2019s how you know you\u2019re not in the country yet,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n McKeon\u2019s Bar and Restaurant bartender James Flynn said once a traveler reaches the state capital, Albany, they\u2019re downstate.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not upstate. Bronx is right there,\u201d he said as he gestured across the street. \u201cThe 4 train comes here, the Metro North.\u201d<\/p>\n The owner of Angelo\u2019s Pizza in Yonkers was even more blunt.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can call it anything you want, but it\u2019s not upstate,\u201d Steve Ugrinag, 65, said.<\/p>\n Steve Ugrinag, 65, owner of Angelo\u2019s Pizza on McLean Ave in Yonkers Khristina Narizhnaya\/NY Post<\/p>\n