New York Metropolitan Area - Geography

Geography

The area is frequently divided into the following regions:

• New York City (Center of the region)
• Long Island (Nassau & Suffolk Counties, NY – separated by water from the rest of the region except New York City; not including Queens County or Kings County (Brooklyn), which coincide with two of New York City's Five Boroughs)
• North Jersey (Northern portion of New Jersey)
• Central Jersey (Middle portion of New Jersey)
• Hudson Valley (Lower Hudson Valley suburbs of Westchester, Putnam and Rockland Counties; and Mid-Hudson exurbs of Dutchess, Orange and Ulster Counties)
• Western Connecticut (Only Fairfield, New Haven and Litchfield Counties are part of the region and separated by the state line)

All five areas can be (and often are) further divided. For instance, Long Island can be divided into the South and North Shores (usually when speaking about Nassau County), Western Suffolk, and the East End. The Hudson Valley and Connecticut are sometimes grouped together and referred to as the Northern Suburbs, largely because of the shared usage of Metro-North Railroad.