Regular readers, if there were any, might find this difficult to believe, but The Referee was recently told by a colleague that he is a "geography anorak". All I had done to deserve such a compliment was to point out, during a conversation back in Blighty about what a nice day it was, that it was in fact the warmest September day since 1940-something. Which happened to be true.
(Which reminds me, those who are unsure about all this climate change fuss should ask themselves why it is that every weather record you can think of has been beaten within the last five minutes.)
If I have established this reputation, deserved or not, I thought, I may as well dine out on it for a while. And so I offer the following local anorakism which I thought you might enjoy. And even if you don't, I'll enjoy telling it.
You will no doubt be familiar with the old Gerard Kenny song, "New York, New York", in which we learn that my adopted city is named twice because of its inherent qualities, rather than the actual reason, which is of course that New York is the name of both the city and the (roughly) triangular state in which it nestles - in the southernmost corner, to be precise.
You might also know that New York city comprises five boroughs - Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island. (A brief aside - is it just me, or does your blood also boil when you see or hear the phrase "comprises of"?. For those who can't see what's wrong with this, please pay attention: the word "comprise" means "consist of". There is already an "of" built in. Please don't feel the need to add another one.)
Anyway, what readers outside of the Big Apple might not know is that the five borough names listed above are in fact only informal nicknames. This is because the five boroughs of NYC are formally counties of NY state, and have official county names to go along with that status.
Now, in a couple of cases, this does not amount to a great deal to write home about - the official name of the Bronx is Bronx County and Queens is formally known as Queens County. But - try to contain your excitement if you can - in the other cases it's not quite that simple. Brooklyn is more properly known as Kings County, and - keep this under your hat for next time you find yourself at a pub quiz - Staten Island is actually called Richmond County.
Which brings me to the bombshell that Manhattan is in fact called - and I expect you're ahead of me here - New York County. Oh yes.
So, when you're next strolling thr(o)u(gh) Greenwich Village, lacing daisies into the hair of your beloved as you dodge the splash of rainwater caused by the trundle of an early morning delivery truck thr(o)u(gh) an overnight puddle, as I often do, don't forget that you're strolling thr(o)u(gh) New York County, which is one of the five boroughs of New York City, which nestles in the southernmost corner of New York State.
So good they named it thrice.
