What visitors should know
New York speech is not one accent or slang list. Borough, neighborhood, ethnicity, generation, register, and social setting all matter, and globally popular New York-origin forms may no longer be exclusive to the city.
Reviewed words and expressions
Alternate Side Parking
In New York City, Alternate Side Parking, usually shortened officially to ASP, refers to parking regulations that clear a posted side of the street during specified periods so street cleaning can take place.
New York CityBEC
In New York City food and bodega context, BEC is common shorthand for a bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich, especially a quick counter order on a roll or bagel.
New York Citybodega
In New York City, bodega commonly refers to a small neighborhood grocery or convenience store, often also functioning as a deli and everyday community stop.
New York Citybrick
In New York City slang, brick describes weather that is extremely cold or freezing, especially in the expression “it’s brick outside.”
New York Citychopped cheese
A chopped cheese is a New York City bodega sandwich typically made by chopping seasoned ground beef with melted cheese on a griddle and serving it on a hero roll with toppings such as lettuce and tomato.
New York Citycrosstown
In New York City, especially in Manhattan, crosstown describes travel or transit running across the island from one side toward the other rather than mainly uptown or downtown; MTA route names use it for multiple east–west Manhattan bus services.
New York Citydeadass
Deadass is very informal African American English and New York-associated slang meaning seriously, genuinely, completely, or for real. It can intensify a predicate or statement and can also stand alone as a stance marker asking for or asserting sincerity.
New York City · Jamaicadowntown
In New York City, especially in Manhattan transit and navigation, downtown can mean toward lower or more southerly Manhattan; MTA signs and service notices use downtown for southward subway direction in Manhattan.
New York Cityhero
In New York City food vocabulary, a hero is a long sandwich on a split roll or loaf, typically filled with combinations such as meats, cheese, vegetables, and condiments.
New York Citymad
In Black New York speech and wider informal American English, mad can intensify degree to mean very or extremely and can also mark a large quantity or amount.
New York CityMTA
In New York transit and civic contexts, MTA is the standard short name for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the New York State public benefit corporation responsible for a regional transportation system across New York City and surrounding commuter counties through multiple operating agencies and affiliates.
New York Cityon line
In New York regional usage, people can say they are waiting “on line” rather than “in line” when standing in a queue.
New York Cityouter boroughs
In New York City, the outer boroughs means the four boroughs other than Manhattan: Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. The phrase is common in civic, transportation, housing, media, and everyday geographic discussion.
New York City · Boston & New Englandregular coffee
In traditional New York City deli, corner-store, and bodega ordering, a regular coffee commonly means brewed coffee prepared with milk or cream and sugar; local cultural sources often describe the familiar shorthand specifically as milk or cream with two sugars.
New York Cityschmear
In New York bagel culture, a schmear is a layer or spread of cream cheese on a bagel, though the word can also refer more generally to a layer of another spreadable food.
New York Cityson
In African American English, especially in Black New York speech, son can be a familiar term of address for another person rather than a literal child; the addressee does not have to be male.
New York Citystoop
In New York City, a stoop is the exterior steps and landing at a building entrance, especially on row houses and brownstones; it also functions as a recognizable neighborhood social space.
New York Citystraphanger
In New York transit talk, a straphanger is a subway or other public-transit rider, especially a standing passenger. Historically the word referred literally to riders holding hanging straps for support; modern local use can refer more broadly to transit passengers even when no strap is involved.
Bronxthe Boogie Down
The Boogie Down, especially in the phrase the Boogie Down Bronx, is a familiar nickname for the Bronx strongly connected with the borough's hip-hop identity.
New York Citythe BQE
In New York City, the BQE is the common abbreviation for the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the I-278 corridor running through Brooklyn and Queens and connecting with the wider regional highway network.
New York City · Londonthe city
Among some New Yorkers outside Manhattan, “the city” can specifically mean Manhattan, as in going from Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, or Staten Island into Manhattan.
Boston & New England · New York Citythe Garden
In Boston sports and event context, the Garden is a familiar short name for TD Garden, the Causeway Street arena used by the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins. Local and official sports writing routinely switches between the full venue name and the shorter Garden when the Boston reference is clear.
New York City · Londonthe Met
In New York City art, museum, and visitor context, the Met is the familiar and first-party short name for The Metropolitan Museum of Art, whose New York sites include The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters.
New York Citythe Village
In New York City, especially in Manhattan context, the Village commonly means Greenwich Village, the downtown neighborhood centered around areas such as Washington Square and the surrounding West Village/Greenwich Village street network.
New York City · Jamaicauptown
In New York City, especially in Manhattan transit and navigation, uptown means toward the upper or more northerly part of Manhattan; MTA signs and service notices use uptown for northward subway direction in Manhattan.
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