what do you MEAN, Little Italy is in Chinatown?

I was reading Gothamist's paean to cool things in Queens, and I am reminded of asshole things I used to say when I had just moved to New York, including, once, to a Greek girl:

"I've never even seen a Greek restaurant."

She looked at me like I had said "New York has a ... a what? ... a subway?? Where?"

I went on to explain that I had been to many diners that appeared to be run by Greek people (usually a good clue is when there are lovingly labeled pictures of little "Athena" and "Spiros" behind the register), but that they were not Greek restaurants, per se.

To be fair, I was living in East Harlem and working in Midtown, and that is not a commute that runs through Astoria.

Another favorite from those new-to-the-city days:

"Um, where's a subway around here?"
"Which one?"
(despondently) "Oh... I don't know. Any subway."

I have also spoken to a number of people who, upon moving to New York, were completely baffled by the presence of large numbers of black people who are native Spanish speakers. There just aren't that many Dominicans in, say, Utah.