What are the meaning of all of the "stan's" in the new yorker cover
"New Yorkistan"  I bought a framed lithograph, and it'd be nice to
know all of the subtleties.

http://routeduvin.typepad.com/photos/newyorker/46980_l.html

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 10 Feb 2006 15:57 PST

This blog might be useful:


http://www.si-web.com/forums/webboard/43829.HTM


I agree with the comment below...let us know which ones you're not
clear on, and we'll see what we can do.


pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by eduboys-ga on 21 Feb 2006 18:41 PST

Phrases I am unsure of.  Some I kinda get the meaning, but don't know
why it applies to the particular neighborhood:

Fashtoonks
Muzaks
Chadorstore
Stan
Khouks
Schmattaradeen
Shatoosh
Pashmina
Khlintunisia
Unmitigated Gauls
Liberaci
Muttererstan
Khurz
Upper Kvetchnya
Ptooey
Feh
Khakis
Kharkeez
Khkhzks
Harry Van Arsdale, Jr. Blvd
Le Frakhis
Extrastan
Perturbia
Soporifiks
Khandibar
Fattushis
Halibutz
Gadzhooks
Cold Turkeystan
Outer Perturbia

This may be helpful:

http://www.si-web.com/forums/webboard/43829.HTM

I found that site through my google search.  It doesn't have a listing
of all of them.

Basically I'm hoping someone has already put together a list of all of
the names, and their meanings, so I don't have to struggle to find the
meanings of all of them.

eduboys --

Are you a New Yorker?   Do all the "stans" confuse you, or only some
of them?  I've lived in NYC for years and I think most old-timers
recognize the references.  A lot of them are plays on Yiddish words
and Brooklyn and Queens accents.

A few you'd need to be from New York to get, I think.   Like
"Lubavistan" is probably named after the Lubavitch branch of Hassidic
Jews, most of whom live in Brooklyn.   And in Queens, "Lefrahkis"
means LeFrak City, a famous housing complex of apartment buiildings,
built by the LeFrak family.

I'm not an official Google researcher, so I just answer things for
fun, but  if you really want someone to provide an explanation for
each "place" on that map, you probably ought to raise your fee.  It
would be alot of work to type all that.     P.S.  Did you know you can
also get NewYorkistan as a SHOWER CURTAIN?!

yeah I was thinking about raising the fee.  I know about 60-70 percent
of them.  Want explanations of all of them to frame, and put next to a
lithograph I bought.

Yes I knew it was a shower curtain...

Maybe you'd get a better response if you list the ones you're unsure
of, as opposed to asking for the entire map.

So many of these are Yiddish expressions and just plain old funny. 
Some do represent the vibe of neighborhoods, but a lot of them are
really there for the laugh.

CHADORSTORE is in New Jersey, probably Jersey City, because it's a big
Muslim community and women there wear the "Chador."  Plus, it's a pun
-- a play on the famous NY furniture store, THE DOOR STORE.

LIBERACI is a play on the pianist Liberace and it appears to be on the
Upper West Side of Manhattan.  The Upper West Side has long been home
to musicains and people in the arts.  And has a big gay population as
well.

SHATOOSH & PASHMINA . . Shatoosh is the most expensive yarn -- I think
it's made from the chin hairs of very rare goats.  Shatoosh shawls are
beyond expensive and illegal to import to the U.S.  (true Pashimina
shawls are also very expensive.)  It looks like SHATOOSH & PASHINA are
on the Upper East Side of Manhattan -- meaning, Park Avenue, 5th
Avenue, Madison Avenue -- home of the very rich women who could afford
those shawls.

PTOOEY & FEH -- Yiddish expressions of negativity.  You don't want to
go to those places!
They appear to be in the Bronx, some parts of which are dangerous.

STAN is Staten Island.   That's all there is.  Stan.  The camel
probably means that it's a barren desert.  Nobody ever seems to think
much about Staten island.

HARRY VAN ARSDALE, JR. BLVD. -- Well, that's a real boulevard in
Queens.  Harry was a famous labor leader, I believe.  Fought for the
working man.  There's something about having all the silly fake names
and then this one real name that is fun.  The artists probably like
saying "Harry Van Arsdale, Jr. Blvd." out loud.  I know I do.

LEFRAKHIS -- I already explained what this in my comment here of 2/8.

Anyway, that's a few more of them for now.   Is this the kind of info you want?

Exactly what I was looking for.