New Yorkistan

The "New Yorkistan" cover of The New Yorker

"New Yorkistan" is the title of the cover art for the December 10, 2001 edition of The New Yorker magazine. Inspired by a conversation while driving through the Bronx,^[1] it was created by Maira Kalman and Rick Meyerowitz^[2]^[3] who did the actual painting, and is (according to the American Society of Magazine Editors) #14 on the list of the top 40 magazine covers of the past 40 years.^[4] It depicts the boroughs of New York City, as well as individual neighborhoods within the city, giving each a humorous name (a "funny mixture of Yiddish, Persian, and New Yorkisms"^[5]) based on the history or geography of that area of the city, while playfully using names or suffixes common in the Middle East and Central Asia, such as "-stan". Thus the title, "New Yorkistan".

The cover gained unexpected popularity, with the New Yorker making approximately $400,000 by February 2002 by selling copies of the picture as signed lithographs (all 750 copies of which sold out within 4 days) and unsigned posters.^[6]^[7]

According to Kalman, the inspiration for the cover arose in a car on the way to a party. She and Meyerowitz were talking about tribalism. At one point she came up with the idea of "Bronxistan", to which Meyerowitz replied "You know, we've got a map here."^[2] Originally, the picture was to be run on the back page of the magazine, but editors liked it so much that it was decided to make it the cover picture.^[3]^[8]

Susan Jarratt describes the cover as "lampooning both New Yorkers' city-bound geographic consciousness and a nationwide ignorance of the geography of Central Asia". Jarratt notes that it was one of the first "humorous interventions" since the events of September 11, 2001.^[9] Urschel notes that this timing of the cover's publication was fortunate. Kalman herself commented on the timing, saying that "if [the cover had come] out earlier, many would have been infuriated, and if it [had come] out later, no one would have cared."^[8]

In September, 2004, Meyerowitz and Kalman made a New York City Subway map as a food map, the New York City Sub-Culinary Map, for The New Yorker.^[10]

Place names

The places depicted, with their explanations (according to the artists or to commentators), are as follows:

<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Al Quarantine : Rikers Island, a large jail complex^[11]
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Al Zheimers : Alzheimer's disease
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Artsifarsis : Situated in the Theater District, this is a play on the term "artsy-fartsy", as well as a reference to the Farsi language, which is a language used officially within Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Bad
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Badassin
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Blahniks : The Upper East Side where "everyone can afford Manolo Blahnik shoes"^[5]^[12]
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Botoxia : Botox
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Bronxistan : The Bronx
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Bulimikhs : Bulimics
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Central Parkistan : Central Park, Manhattan
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Chadorstore : Jersey City, home of a Muslim community where women wear a chador. Also a pun on The Door Store, a well-known New York furniture store.
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Cold Turkeystan
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />E-Z Pashtuns : E-ZPass, an electronic toll collection system, as well as the Pashtun ethnic group
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Extra Stan
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Fashtoonks : From a Yiddish adjective meaning "stinking, smelly" describing the sometime aromas of the New Jersey industrial wastelands just beyond the Palisades along the Hudson River.
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Fattushis : There is a popular Middle Eastern Restaurant in that part of Brooklyn called Fattoosh
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Feh and <templatestyles src="Template:Visible anchor/styles.css" />Ptooey : Yiddish expressions of negativity ("feh!", "ptooey!") for a part of The Bronx that is considered dangerous.
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Flatbushtuns : Flatbush, Brooklyn
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Fuhgeddabouditstan : This is in Brooklyn, where this place name sounds like the local pronunciation of the popular local expression "Forget about it."
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Gadzhooks
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Gaymenistan : The neighborhood of Chelsea, currently a very "gay" part of Manhattan. Also a play on Turkmenistan.
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Gribinez : The Hudson River. "gribenes" (conventional Yiddish-English transliteration) is an Eastern European Jewish delicacy, "cracklings from rendered chicken fat"^[13]
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Halibutz : Halibut
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Harry Van Arsdale, Jr., Blvd. : This is the actual name of the road depicted and is the only real name on the map. According to Meyerowitz, the reason is simply that the name is inherently funny: "The name never failed to make me laugh when I approached it."^[12]
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Hiphopabad : Hip hop with -abad nameplace ending. This overlaps roughly with Bedford-Stuyvesant, the most heavily African-American neighborhood in Brooklyn.
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Irant and <templatestyles src="Template:Visible anchor/styles.css" />Irate : A reference to ranting and being irate, as well as to Iran and Iraq.
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Khaffeine : ... (Also note the jagged lines marking the territory, a reference to the effects of caffeine.)
(Conn.) <templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Khakis : Southwestern Connecticut, a wealthy area that could be considered a stronghold of WASP culture and the article of clothing often associated with them.
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Khandibar : A pun on candy bar and Kandahar.^[12]
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Khantstandit : "Can't stand it"
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Kharkeez : This is in southern Connecticut, with the translation being "car keys", a reference to the many NY workers who commute to the city from Connecticut.
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Khkhzks
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Khlintunisia : This is in Harlem, Manhattan, the "Khlintun" part being a reference to President Clinton's office location in Harlem. Also, "Tunisia" is a primarily Islamic/Arab country in northern Africa.
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Khouks
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Khurz : Curs and Kurds
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Kvetchnya : A pun on Chechnya and "kvetch".^[12]
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Le Frakhis : LeFrak City, a housing complex in Queens
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Lesbikhs
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Liberaci : Presumably referring to Morningside Heights, neighborhood of Columbia University, a primarily "liberal" institution.
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Lowrentistan : World Trade Center site^[14]
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Lubavistan : Named after the Lubavitch branch of Hasidic Jews, most of whom live in Brooklyn.
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Moolahs : Wall Street and the Financial District of Manhattan. "moolah" is a common slang term for money^[11] and also probably alludes to "mullah".
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Mooshuhadeen : Combination of 'mujahideen' and 'moo-shu', referring respectively to the Arabic term for those involved in a struggle ("jihad") and to Chinatown and 'moo-shu' dishes in Chinese-American cuisine.
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Muzaks
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Mutterers
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Notsobad : The one area of the Bronx that is not considered dangerous to go to
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Nudniks: Yiddish for someone who is a pestering or irritating person. The New York Mets.
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Outer Perturbia
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Pashmina : A pashmina is a Kashmiri shawl often made of cashmere. This is in an affluent area of the city, where women can afford cashmere and may be drawn to the stylish use of pashminas.
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Perturbia
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Psychobabylon : Psychobabble
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Schmattahadeen : shmatta is Yiddish for "rag", also jocular for clothing in the fashion industry.
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Shatoosh : Shatoosh is a type of fine Kashmiri shawl made of antelope down hairs. It is located in the center of an affluent are of the city, where women can afford such a luxurious shawl.
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Snit
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Soporifiks
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Spit
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Stan : This is Staten Island, which is just plain "Stan" because of its nondescript nature. It could also be interpreted as the name of the camel standing there.
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Taxistan : This is the location of LaGuardia Airport in Queens, with its large contingent of taxis waiting for arriving passengers.^[5]
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />The Potatoes : These islands (2 are North and South Brother Islands) are shaped much like potatoes, at least in the drawing.
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Trumpistan : an "area of future development",^[8] presumably by then-real estate developer and Apprentice star Donald Trump.
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Turban Sprawl : urban sprawl
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Unmitigated Gauls
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Upper Kvetchnya : Kvetch is Yiddish for "complain".
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Veryverybad
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Wretched Kurz
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Yhanks : This is the South Bronx, home of the New York Yankees and Yankee Stadium.
<templatestyles src="Template: Visible anchor/styles.css" />Youdontunderstandistan

References

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↑ Calvin Trillin, The Tummy Trilogy (1974) p. 166, alternate spelling: greven
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New Yorkistan

Place names

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New Yorkistan

Place names

See also

References

Further reading

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