Drawing the Line on "Upstate" New York

Where exactly does "upstate" New York begin?

If you're in Manhattan, you may well consider Westchester upstate. After all, it is north of you. 

But if you're anywhere else in New York--Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo, heck, even Kingston--you'd never consider Westchester upstate. It is, after all, a suburb of NYC, quite close to the southernmost edge of the state. 

I did a story on the topic for Westchester Magazine. I checked in with Mark Monmonier, distinguished professor emeritus of geography at Syracuse University, on the topic, and some other map experts. He mentions late-night host Stephen Colbert, who invented the concept of “truthiness,” suggesting different levels of being factual.

“Stephen might say something like ‘upstatedness,’” says Monmonier. “Westchester County has a relatively low degree of upstatedness. Dutchess has more upstatedness. Albany has a considerably high level of upstatedness.”

Brews That Don't Leave a Bruise

 I wrote about alcohol-free beer getting a bit tastier in the Journal News. 

Here's what happened with what is known as NA beer in recent years: It was bland and bad. Craft beer was exploding, offering hoppy, hefty, tasty IPAs and other brews, and the alcohol-free stuff was, well, O'Douls. 

But it got better. A handful of breweries that do only NA beer, including Athletic and Partake, launched, and traditional craft breweries are experimenting with alco-free brews now. 

“It’s a good way to not only have a new product, but also to speak to different people and different crowds,” said Kasey Schwartz, head brewer at Broken Bow Brewery of Tuckahoe, NY. “People that don’t want to drink alcohol or can’t drink alcohol, and want something refreshing in the middle of the day.”