How are neighborhoods in New York city named?  I am confused by Crown
Heights, Brooklyn and Jamaica, Queens.  I know there are neighborhoods
on Staten Island and in other boroughs too.  What do these names mean?
 Does someone live in Crown Heights or in Brooklyn - are they just
nicknames or do they mean something to the postal service, etc?

I've found several slightly different stories about Crown Heights:

"According to folklore Crown Heights was named for the largest hill in
the area, which was infested with crows; the Brooklyn Eagle in 1873
suggested that the area was named for a settlement begun in 'crows' by
whites."

African American Planning Commission, Inc.
http://216.239.41.100/search?q=cache:mJ84IIfIxaUJ:www.aapci.org/services/doc/01CROWNH.5.doc

"Crown Heights, for the most part a lower middle-class residential
area, lies on both sides of the ridge of Eastern Parkway. The section
was known as Crow Hill until 1916, when Crown Street was cut through."

Brooklyn Home Page
http://www.brooklyn.net/neighborhoods/crown_heights.html

"In the year 1886, millions of immigrants poured into the United
States and settled in small towns and villages. Among these
settlements was an area in Brooklyn known sometimes as Oakland,
because of the trees that covered its hills; sometimes as Goat Hill or
Crow Hill, because of its height. Finally, because from a distance,
the hills appeared as a 'crown', the areas was designated as Crown
Heights."

St. Matthew Roman Catholic Church
http://www.stmatthewsrcchurch.org/parish_history.htm

"Originally founded as Dutch farmsteads in the 17th century, the
Brooklyn neighborhood was settled by free blacks following the Civil
War. The derisive nickname, 'Crow Hill,' was changed at the start of
the 20th century with the addition of an extra letter and the tonier-
sounding "Heights." Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, the
planners of Central Park, designed the tree-lined Eastern Parkway in
the style of a Parisian boulevard to cut a stylish path through the
rapidly gentrifying area. But it was the 1913 addition of Ebbets
Field, the legendary home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, that solidified the
neighborhood's middle class credentials."

http://www.ryanteaguebeckwith.com/masters/masters2.html

======================================================================

Things are a little clearer in regard to the origin of the name
"Jamaica," in Queens:

"In a nutshell, Jamaica is the largest (area-wise) town in Queens
County. It is the area surrounding Jamaica Bay in the southern part of
Queens and was purchased from the Canarsie and Rockaway Indians, in
usual Dutch settler fashion, for guns, blankets, kettles, and "8
bottles of licker."...The area was formally named 'Jamaica' in the
early 18th century, probably for the Jameco Indians of the area and
not for the island at all."

Why a Duck
http://www.whyaduck.com/ducklist/v2/02-024.htm

"Jamaica Queens was not actually named after Bob Marley's Jamaica; in
fact there's some evidence that the Caribbean island was named after
the old Queens country village, which was one of the earliest
communities in Dutch/Colonial New York. This village, like many places
in or near early New York (Manhattan, Hackensack, Gowanus) was named
after an native-American tribe, in this case the Jamecos."

Literary Kicks
http://www.litkicks.com/Queensboro/Queens/QnsSouthEast.html

"...even during colonial times, Queens had an international flavor, as
attested by some of its place names. Flushing is named after the Dutch
village of Vlissingen. Jamaica is named after the Jameco Indians who
once populated the region. And Queens itself is named after Catherine
of Braganza, a Portuguese princess who became Queen of England during
the 17th century."

Young Audiences New York
http://www.yany.org/resources/qns.html

======================================================================

Regarding your question "are they just nicknames or do they mean
something to the postal service, etc?", technically neither Crown
Heights nor Jamaica "means something" to the United States Post
Office. But neither do "Brooklyn" or "Queens." From the standpoint of
the USPS, all of these place names fall under the city designation
"New York City." In actual fact, a letter with a correct street
address that gave "Crown Heights" or "Jamaica" as a city name instead
of "New York City" would almost certainly be delivered.

The names are much more than "just nicknames." As noted in the
Columbia Gazetteer, Crown Heights has very precisely defined
boundaries:

"Crown Heights, E section (2 sq mi/5.2 sq km; pop. 3,200) of borough
of Brooklyn, N.Y. city, SE N.Y.; borders Prospect Park and the
Brooklyn Botanic Gardens to NE; bet. Atlantic Ave. (to N) and Empire
Boulevard and East New York Ave. (to S); 41°38'N 73°56'W."

Bartleby: The Columbia Gazetteer of North America
http://www.bartleby.com/69/79/C11879.html 

Here is a description of the boundaries of Jamaica:

"Jamaica is centrally located in Queens, New York. One of the area's
most important advantages is its prime location adjacent to several
forms of transportation-air, rail, highway and subway. The area is
situated midway between JFK International and LaGuardia Airports,
approximately 10 miles form downtown Manhattan. Downtown Jamaica is
bounded by primary arterials, to the west the Van Wyck Expressway and
to the north the Grand Central Parkway. The Long Island Railroad
serves as the link between the commuter shed in Nassau and Suffolk
Counties."

Gotham Gazette
http://www.gothamgazette.com/searchlight/pdf/cp_dist28.pdf

======================================================================

These were the Google search terms that gave me the best results:

Google Web Search: "crown heights was named"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22crown+heights+was+named

Google Web Search: "crown heights" + "crow hill"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22crown+heights%22+%22crow+hill

Google Web Search: "queens" + "named jamaica"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=queens+%22named+jamaica

======================================================================

Thanks for asking a question that was very interesting to research. If
anything is unclear, or if a link does not function, please request
clarification; I'll be glad to offer further assistance before you
rate my answer.

Best wishes,
pinkfreud

I thought the answer was interesting and the comments made by nelson
were very good too.  I had wondered about this for a long time (stupid
because I live in Michigan) but I appreciate the answer.

Address-wise:

People in Manhattan live in New York, NY.
People in Brooklyn live in Brooklyn, NY.
People in the Bronx live in Bronx, NY.
People in Staten Island live in Staten Island, NY.
People in Queens live in different places.  Could be Jamiaca, NY;
Astoria, NY; Long Island City, NY.  etc.  For Queens only, the address
depends on the neighborhood.  An envelope would never be addressed to
Queens, NY.  If you try to find the zip code for Queens
(http://www.usps.com/zip4/citytown_zip.htm), you'll find that Queens
does not exist.

Also, people of a certain section of the Northwest Bronx like to
address their mail as Riverdale, NY, but this is not acceptable
according to the USPS.

Also, the each borough is its own county, but the borough name may not
be the county name.
Manhattan is New York County.
Brooklyn is Kings County.
Staten Island is Richmond County.
The Bronx is Bronx County.
Queens is Queens County.

Note that, except in addressing an envelope, Bronx is preceded by
"The".  This applies in foreign languages, too: Spanish: El Bronx;
Portuguese: O Bronx; Italian: Il Bronx, etc.

And just to clear up one of pinkfreud's comments, mail outside
Manhattan should NOT be addressed New York, NY.  Crown Heights should
be Brooklyn, NY.  Jamaica should be left as Jamaica, NY.  You will
find that Jamaica is the default city/town name for numerous ZIP codes
(http://www.usps.com/zip4/citytown_zip.htm).  (And in Manhattan, do
not add "City" in the address.)

I am sorry for the error regarding the addressing of mail. Nelson-ga
is correct. I received my information from a friend who used to work
for the U.S. Post Office. Maybe this sort of misinformation explains
why she no longer works there. ;-)

~pinkfreud

Thanks for the tip!

~pinkfreud

In my experience,

Postal Service locality names in NYC are optional except in Queens
County/Borough of Queens.
The name of the borough will do for the other four.
When using a locality name within the other four boroughs, the name of
the
borough is not needed.
Checking the USPS site for validity of a locality name is a good idea,
but
the correct ZIP code should do.
http://www.usps.com/zip4/citytown_zip.htm

Borough of Manhattan        New York County  New York City, NY
Borough of the Bronx        Bronx County     Bronx, NY
Borough of Staten Island    Richmond County  Staten Island, NY
Borough of Brooklyn         Kings County     Brooklyn, NY
Borough of Queens           Queens County    <in Queens use locality
name, eg
Flushing, Jamaica, Bayside, Astoria, Woodside, Sunnyside, Jackson
Heights, Long
Island City, Corona, Forest Hills, Far Rockaway, etc. There used to be
5 or 6
(?) major zones indicated on the Hagstrom Street Maps. If memory
serves, they were Flushing, Jamaica, Astoria, Long Island City, The
Rockaways and Woodside(?)>
some more info on naming of NY hamlets, villages and other
jurisdictions
is here: 
http://prometheusli.com/hamlet/hamlet_tree/locality_names.htm

Bambi is wrong.  Only Queens uses the locatilty names.  Manhattan is
New York (DO NOT INCLUDE "CITY"!).  The other 3 boroughs use the
borough name.

Note that there is a functional difference between the boroughs and
the counties, which helps explain why the two sets of names continue. 
To the extent their function is as a subdivision of the state, e.g.,
for election of the district attorney or for court organization, they
are counties.  None of the courts use the borough name; they all use
the county names.  While the D.A.s are informally referred to as the,
e.g., Manhattan D.A., he is in fact legally the District Attorney for
New York County.  To the extent the function is as a subdivision of
the city, then you are talking borough, e.g., the election of a
borough president.

<p>nelson is generally correct:
<p><i>People in Manhattan live in New York, NY.
People in Brooklyn live in Brooklyn, NY.
People in the Bronx live in Bronx, NY.
People in Staten Island live in Staten Island, NY.
People in Queens live in different places.  Could be Jamiaca, NY;
Astoria, NY; Long Island City, NY.  etc.  For Queens only, the address
depends on the neighborhood.  An envelope would never be addressed to
Queens, NY.  If you try to find the zip code for Queens
(http://www.usps.com/zip4/citytown_zip.htm), you'll find that Queens
does not exist.</i>

<p>The Queens rule changed in 1998. You can find more about that here:
<a href="http://www.house.gov/ackerman/press/zips.html">"Ackerman gets
Postal Service to Recognize Queen's Communities by Zip-Codes."</a>

Sorry, I was adding the HTML by my own. First time posting at Google. =)