Central New York is a term used to broadly describe the central region of New York State, roughly including the following counties and cities:
-
Cayuga County – Auburn Cortland County – Cortland Madison County – Oneida Oneida County – Rome, Sherrill & Utica Onondaga County – Syracuse (Largest city in the region) Oswego County – Fulton & Oswego Tompkins County – Ithaca Herkimer County – Little Falls
The region has a population of about 1,177,073. Major newspapers in the region include the Oneida Daily Dispatch, Syracuse Post-Standard, Auburn Citizen, Ithaca Journal, and Utica Observer-Dispatch, as well as the alternative newsweekly Syracuse New Times. Hamilton College, Cornell University, Le Moyne College, SUNY Oswego, Colgate University, SUNY Cortland, Ithaca College, Syracuse University and the SUNY ESF are some of the major colleges and universities in the region. The region is served by several television stations based in Syracuse including ABC affiliate WSYR, NBC affiliate WSTM, CBS affiliate WTVH, Fox affiliate WSYT and PBS affiliate WCNY. Note: Tompkins County and Cortland County are often considered part of the region in New York State called the Southern Tier. Oneida County and Herkimer County are often considered part of the region in NYS called the Mohawk Valley. Therefore Tompkins County, Cortland County, Oneida County and Herkimer County are only Central New York in the broader sense of the phrase "Central New York". Only Onondaga County, Cayuga County, Oswego County and Madison County are always considered "Central New York".
History
During the early historic period, the Iroquois successfully excluded Algonquin tribes from the region. The Central New York Military Tract, land reserved from soldiers of the American Revolution, was located here. Many towns derived from the tracts have classical names.
Speech patterns
Many Central New Yorkers pronounce elementary as /ɛlʌmɛntɛɹi/ instead of the General American pronunciations of /ɛlʌmɛntɝi/ and /ɛlʌmɛntri/. The r-colored vowels in documentary and complimentary follow suit.
