Loading... • Loading... • Loading... • Loading... • Loading... • Loading... • Loading... • Loading... • Loading... • Loading... • Loading... • Loading... • Loading... • Loading... • Loading... • Loading...

Real New Yorkers. Real stories. Real places.

A weekly interview series by Isabel Togoh

Explore the Map Read on Substack

Where we've been

Interviews across NYC
Find on Map
Eden Seiferheld
Eden Seiferheld
Bethesda Terrace · Central Park
Lulu Akingbade
Lulu Akingbade
LeFrak Center at Lakeside · Prospect Park
Claire Akkan
Claire Akkan
Gramercy Park · Gramercy
Barella Roberson
Barella Roberson
Brooklyn Heights Promenade · Brooklyn Heights
Martha Wilson
Martha Wilson
Franklin Furnace Archive, Inc. · East Village
Jane August
Jane August
Campos Community Garden · East Village
Robert Galinsky
Robert Galinsky
Union Square Park · Union Square
Take the Quiz
What Kind of New Yorker Are You?

7 questions. No wrong answers. Find out if you know the score.

1 / 7
Learn the Lingo
The NYC Glossary

You can't know the score if you don't know the words.

F
Fuggedaboutit
/fuh-GED-uh-bow-dit/
From Italian-American Brooklyn, this all-purpose word means "forget about it" — but depending on tone, it can mean "absolutely," "no way," "you're welcome," or "that's incredible." Context is everything.
B
Bodega
/boh-DAY-guh/
From the Spanish word for "warehouse." These corner stores — often with a cat — are NYC's real convenience stores. Your bodega guy knows your order by heart.
D
Deadass
/DED-ass/
Born in NYC hip-hop culture, this means "seriously" or "I'm not joking." Often paired with "B" — as in "Deadass, B, that's the best slice in the city."
1
The City
/thuh SIT-ee/
If you're from the outer boroughs, "the city" means Manhattan. From anywhere else in the world, it means New York. Either way, there's only one.
S
Stoop
/stoop/
From the Dutch "stoep," brought over when New York was still New Amsterdam. The front steps of a brownstone — and the social hub of every block.
7
Schlep
/shlep/
Yiddish for dragging yourself or your stuff somewhere annoying. "I'm not schlepping to Brooklyn for that." A word that captures the exhaustion of NYC commuting.
E
B.E.C.
/bee-ee-see/
Bacon, egg, and cheese on a roll — the official breakfast of NYC. Ordered at the bodega, wrapped in foil, eaten on the subway. Salt-pepper-ketchup is a personality test.
M
Mad
/mad/
In New York, "mad" doesn't mean angry — it means "very." "That's mad good." Roots in 1980s hip-hop slang, now embedded in the DNA of how New Yorkers talk.
Q
Bridge & Tunnel
/brij-and-TUN-ul/
A (somewhat snobby) Manhattan term for people who commute in for nightlife. If someone calls you B&T, they're saying you don't live here — you just visit.
A
Brick
/brik/
NYC slang for brutally cold. "It's brick outside." Likely from the feeling of cold air hitting you like a wall of bricks when you step out of the subway in January.
Join the conversation
Got a story to tell?

Show us your New York. Isabel is always looking for the next interview.

About
Isabel Togoh

I'm Isabel, a journalist who interviews native and non-native New Yorkers about what makes this city so great — in their favorite NYC spots. Every week, a new Q&A lands in your inbox.

Subscribe on Substack View on Google Maps
Native New Yorker Odyssey • 1977
Why "Know The Score"

It started with a song.

In 1977, Odyssey released "Native New Yorker" — a disco anthem that became the unofficial love letter to everyone who calls this city home. The chorus goes: "You should know the score by now."

Knowing the score means knowing the city — the unwritten rules, the best slice spot, when to walk faster, where the locals actually go. That's what this newsletter is about: the people who know the score and the places that prove it.

▶ Listen to the song