Brian Lehrer Show Quiz: Local Geography
( Rebeca Ibarra / WNYC )
[music]
Brian Lehrer: It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning again, everyone, and it's membership drive geography quiz time. Do you know what's where in New York City and vicinity? If so, call right up, and if you get three new geography quiz answers in a row right, we'll send you that new Brian Lehrer Show baseball hat we were talking about. Who wants to play? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. It's membership drive geography quiz time.
Do you know what's where in New York City and vicinity? Do you know how to get around, around here? 212-433-WNYC, if you want to play. While your calls are coming in, let me reset the context for this where in our annual spring membership drive and during this 11:00 AM hour of the show every day during this drive, we're having a Brian Lehrer Show fundraising party. Think of it like the bake sale at your school.
We don't actually have the PTA meeting at the bake sale. We have cake and cookies and games. That's the model for our 11:00 AM to noon spring fundraising parties after our more serious fair in the ten o'clock hour today, talking about transit controversies in and around New York and talking about Clarence Thomas and the Supreme Court. I hope you enjoy our 11:00 AM to noon spring fundraising parties, and of course, we hope that you'll pitch in for the membership drive.
What happens at this event? Well, we're doing three segments each day in the 11:00 AM to noon fundraising party. Segment 1 it's this, it's a low-stakes pop quiz. A low-stakes pop quiz. We don't give grades, we do give prizes. That's what we're doing right now with this low-stakes pop quiz on New York area geography. Who wants to try for three in a row and that Brian Lehrer Show baseball hat? 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692.
Then as the hour goes on, we'll have Segment 2. We're bringing back our most fun or interesting call-ins of 2023 for a second round of participation. All the good ones wind up with more listeners waiting their turn than we can take. It's our most fun or interesting call-ins of 2023 Round 2. Today, it'll be on therapy-speak that has helped you in your life or that makes you cringe, and we'll end each of these hours with things to do this summer, mostly things around here in our greater New York listening area.
It's a low-stakes pop quiz. Grades, no; prizes, yes. Our most fun or interesting call-ins of 2023 Round 2 and things to do in the New York area and elsewhere this summer. Here we go with today's low-stakes pop quiz New York City and vicinity geography. Do you know what's where around here? Do you know your way around, around here? 212-433-9692. I'm just getting-- Hang on as I get my caller board up here so we can go right to Line 1 and take Alan in Brooklyn. Hi, Alan, you're on WNYC.
Alan: Good morning, Brian. Thank you.
Brian Lehrer: All right. Only one New York City borough is situated entirely on the United States mainland. Which borough?
Alan: That would be the Bronx because it is not an island. Staten Island is closer to the mainland but it's separated by water.
Brian Lehrer: That's right. Staten Island is an island by definition, Manhattan Island is an island, and Brooklyn and Queens are part of-
Alan: Are both in Long Island.
Brian Lehrer: -the geographical Long Island. Bronx is actually the only borough on the United States mainland. You got one right. A community of predominantly free Black landowners founded in 1825 was destroyed three decades later to build what famous New York City landmark.
Alan: Central Park.
Brian Lehrer: Central Park is correct. That's two in a row, and we've got a bonus question with this one, which means if you get it right, that'll make your third correct answer and you win the baseball hat. If you get it wrong because it's pretty harder, at least most people don't know it, you get a pass. The bonus question is, can you tell us the name of the community of free Black landowners that was destroyed to build Central Park?
Alan: I used to know it and I can't pull it up at this moment.
Brian Lehrer: All right. The answer is Seneca Village.
Alan: Right, okay.
Brian Lehrer: That was a bonus question, so no penalty. One more for the baseball hat. Which is bigger, now that we've referenced Central Park, bigger in area, Central Park or Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx?
Alan: I believe Pelham Bay Park is bigger.
Brian Lehrer: Pelham Bay Park is much bigger, in fact, 2,765 acres. Central Park by comparison is only about 843 acres. Cue the fanfare, bring on the trumpets because Alan wins a baseball cap. Alan, hang on, we're going to take your address off the air, and we're going to go next to Erica in Crown Heights. Hello, Erica.
Erica: Hi.
Brian Lehrer: Here we go. Are you ready for a question? Name--
Erica: I hope so. I knew all the last ones, so. [laughs]
Brian Lehrer: Oh, did you know Seneca Village? [chuckles]
Erica: I did not know that, but I knew the Central Park.
Brian Lehrer: Name the New York City skyscraper completed in 1930 that stood as the world's tallest building but for only 11 months. The New York City skyscraper completed in 1930.
Erica: I believe that's the Chrysler Building.
Brian Lehrer: It is the Chrysler Building. For a bonus point, again, no penalty if you don't get it, name the skyscraper's architectural style.
Erica: Art Deco.
Brian Lehrer: It is Art Deco. That's already two in a row correct. True or false, Marble Hill is the Bronx's southernmost neighborhood. You're in Crown Heights as I see, so you're pretty far from there.
Erica: Yes. Marble Hill is the Bronx's southernmost neighborhood. I think that's false.
Brian Lehrer: That is false. We've given away another baseball hat. Do you know why it's false?
Erica: WELL Because other places are further south.
Brian Lehrer: No, the--
Erica: The Bronx wraps around Manhattan and Marble Hill. I think Marble Hill's like that part of Manhattan that's kind of really the Bronx, right?
Brian Lehrer: That's it. That's exactly it. You're right that there are other parts of the Bronx that are further south. Even if Marble Hill was part of the Bronx, but even though you have to cross the Broadway Bridge off of Manhattan Island over the Spuyten Duyvil up there to get to Marble Hill, it feels like you're in the Bronx. If you didn't know, you'd think you just crossed over into the Bronx but technically it's part of Manhattan.
A Manhattan borough president, a Manhattan City Council member have jurisdiction over that. For people who didn't know, that's the obscure little trivia piece about Marble Hill. Congratulations, Erica. Hang on, we're going to take your address off the air and we will send you a baseball hat. We'll go next to-
Erica: Fantastic.
Brian Lehrer: -David in Miami, calling the Brian Lehrer Show New York area geography quiz. David, hi. Did you use to live around here?
David: Yes, I'm born and raised in Westchester and lived in the city for 15 years. I just moved to Miami two years ago.
Brian Lehrer: Aha. Well, lucky for you I have a question up next that includes Westchester in it, and that is, if you drive north on the Hutchinson River Parkway through the Bronx and through Westchester, what are you suddenly on when you hit Connecticut?
David: Merritt Parkway.
Brian Lehrer: The Merritt Parkway is right. Now, New Jersey is one of only four states in which the official governor's mansion is not located in the state capital. It's not in Trenton. Can you tell us, and because we think this is fairly hard, either where New Jersey's official governor's residence is located or the name of it? It has a very distinctive name.
David: No idea.
Brian Lehrer: You want to take a guess on the New Jersey location?
David: No, I have no idea.
Brian Lehrer: No idea, okay.
David: Oh, yes, you know what? I will take a guess. I will take a guess.
Brian Lehrer: Don't tell me you're Googling. Sorry, David.
David: The [crosstalk] is at the subway.
Brian Lehrer: Time's up. Time's up. Sorry. I gave you a shot there, but I may be out of bounds here. It was long enough for you to Google the answer. Sorry. [laughs] We're going to call it time, but David, thanks for trying. The answer was Princeton and the name of the residence is Drumthwacket, believe it or not. Peter in Livingston, New Jersey, you're on WNYC. Hi, Peter.
Peter: Hey, Brian. Huge fan of the show. Thanks for having me on.
Brian Lehrer: Thank you very much. All right. We've got another Jersey question here and that is that there's a pretty well-known bridge between Trenton and Morrisville, Pennsylvania that has Trenton's motto on it that we've talked about on this show and that certainly just about everybody in Trenton knows. Do you know the motto on the bridge from Trenton into Pennsylvania?
Peter: [unintelligible 00:10:41] Gosh. No, I don't.
Brian Lehrer: All right, sorry. Thanks for playing.
Peter: Sorry.
Brian Lehrer: Thanks for trying. It's, Trenton Makes, The World Takes, emblazoned right on that bridge. Trenton Makes, The World Takes. Let's see. How about Alexander in Brooklyn? Hi, Alexander, you're on WNYC.
Alexander: Hi, Brian.
Brian Lehrer: Ready for a quiz question?
Alexander: I hope so.
Brian Lehrer: What borough is home to the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge?
Alexander: That would be Queens.
Brian Lehrer: That would be Queens. What borough is home to Industry City, also known as Bush Terminal?
Alexander: That would be in Brooklyn.
Brian Lehrer: That would be in Brooklyn. For the baseball hat, true or false, Yonkers is the largest city in Rockland County.
Alexander: I want to say false. I'm pretty sure Rockland is across the river.
Brian Lehrer: Oh, false is correct and exactly for the reason that you said. Kind of a trick question. Yonkers is the largest city but in Westchester County. Rockland, which is much smaller by population is, yes, across the river, across the Tappan Zee, the Mario, if you prefer. Population of Yonkers is over 200,000. The whole population of Rockland County happens to be only over 300,000. Alexander, way to go. Hang on, we're going to take your address off the air and we will send you a Brian Lehrer Show baseball hat.
Folks, that is our Brian Lehrer Show geography quiz for today. We're going to do another geography quiz later on in the membership drive as part of our 11:00 AM to noon fundraising party. Up next, we will have the second round of one of our most fun or interesting call-ins of the year. This time it's going to be, tell us something from therapy-speak that helps you in life or makes you cringe.
You can start calling now to get in line if you want at 212-433-WNYC. No more quiz contestants for today. We'll have another one right at this time tomorrow. 212-433-9692 to tell us that phrase from therapy-speak that helps you in your life or makes you cringe.
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