Why is on and above used in the following sentence, rather than on or above alone?
But foreign policy statements are made all the time on and above the sidewalks of New York.
And why, more generally, does Google Search show 362,000 results for "on and above", almost as if there is no overlap in meaning and usage between these prepositions?
In general, this expression is commonly used because it is a useful way of defining a space that begins with any upward-facing surface and extends towards the sky.
I spent the autumn days glowering at the leaves on and above my lawn.
(source: google.com)
As far as this specific instance goes, we can tell from the remainder of your example sentence's paragraph what the author is referring to:
But foreign policy statements are made all the time on and above the sidewalks of New York. That explains why street corners are named for the likes of Nelson and Winnie Mandela of South Africa, the assassinated Yitzhak Rabin of Israel, the murdered Kudirat Abiola of Nigeria and the Cuban exile group Brothers to the Rescue.
This use of the phrase covers locations of memorial plaques and street signs, as well as the contentious Empire State Building lights that are the subject of the article. It's possible that there are metaphorical implications as well, related to the people on the sidewalks and in the buildings “above” the sidewalk, but the literal meaning is at least clear from the rest of the paragraph.
Named street corner, above the street:
Memorial plaque, on the street:
The "on and above" quoted here might refer to forms of advertising and news headlines that get displayed literally on and above the sidewalks of New York in the form of billboards, electronic signs, TV screens, protest signs and the like. The epitome of this phenomenon is Times Square.
I can't answer the cause of usage trends, sorry. However, the phrase on and above is grammatically acceptable, particularly in the quote.
Edit: Having now read the context, "on and above" refers to lights on the Empire State Building but also street signs. It might also be metaphorical for people's choices from the "man on the street" to the heights of power such as those in Office. Regardless of interpretation, "on and above" is appropriate.
I will go with Martha's explanation here. The writer wants to say that the foreign policies of New York are made either on a sidewalk or above the sidewalk pointing towards the highrises and skyscraper in New York. I feel the author tried to mock the process of the making of foreign policies.
Observe the previous paragraphs of that article. The gist says that Empire State Building officials agreed to adorn the building with red-yellow lights on 60th anniversary of Communist Reign on China. Communist party is known to be one of the most hated and anti-humaniterian organization. Despite that, that very Empire State Building which did not give a second thought to making the bulding green on Id-Ul-Fitre or yellow on United States tennis tournament, beuatified itself on China's case. That said, in spite of severe people's protest and all, the US Govt. turned a blind eye and rather tried to make the Chinese Govt. happy.
"On the sidewalk" might signify sometimes people who literally don't know a bit about foreign or the states of other countries or what's going on there. And "Above the sidewalk" might signify that people who make foreign policies reside on tall buildings and they seldom know anything about what's the ground reality or what people of America want. So either way the foreign policy in America deteriorated. That's why just the former line says,
"Yes, the United States has sins of its own to atone for."
Discalimer- This is not the reflection of my personal political thought; only what I understood from the article.
