0

I came across that headline:

Workers at a Staten Island, N.Y., hospital have threatened to quit en masse over their employer’s vaccine mandate.

what puzzles me is: Staten Island, N.Y., hospital. Shouldn't it be instead:

N.Y. Staten Island hospital?

the hospital is in Staten Island which is in N.Y. Make sense?

Improve this question
1
  • It's the NYT. And it's a mistake. There should be no comma or it should be: Workers at a Staten Island, N.Y. hospital. No comma. Still not great but the comma is a mistake.
    – Lambie
    Aug 23, 2021 at 15:10

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3

In American English, the names of locations are conventionally given as "Place name, State Name" (perhaps this is because there are numerous places across the states with the same name). And the state name is often abbreviated to a two-letter code. So people will talk about Springfield, AK. Springfield, CA. Springfield, CO ...

This is a dialect, so you will hear Americans speak of "London, England" even though a Briton would not often say that.

So "Staten Island, NY" is idiomatic. And can be used as an attribute of a hospital to identify where it is.

Improve this answer
7
  • I always cringe when I hear "Rome, Iddly".
    – Michael Harvey
    Aug 23, 2021 at 12:15
  • 1
    Staten Island, NY is okay but not the way they write in hospital. Especially with a period and a comma.
    – Lambie
    Aug 23, 2021 at 14:04
  • @Lambie - "Especially with a period and a comma." - the New York Times has its own rules.
    – Michael Harvey
    Aug 23, 2021 at 14:29
  • 1
    You don't understand me. It is not the periods that bother me, it's the periods PLUS the comma. If you're gonna use all that adjectivally, it has to be: A Staten Island, N.Y. hospital//*no comma*
    – Lambie
    Aug 23, 2021 at 15:08
  • 1
    @Lambie - I get it now. You are absolutely right.
    – Michael Harvey
    Aug 23, 2021 at 15:13

You must log in to answer this question.