回到为什么布朗士(The Bronx)一定要有定冠词The的问题上，我其实问过不少人，多半都不知道。这有点象不少住在北京的人也不知道安定门为什么叫安定门、德胜门为什么叫德胜门一样。先看看Wiki怎么说：
The Bronx is referred to, both legally, and colloquially, with a definite article, as The Bronx. The name for this region first appeared in the Annexed District of the Bronx created in 1874 out of part of Westchester County and named after the Bronx River, and was continued in the Borough of the Bronx, which included a larger annexation from Westchester County in 1898. The use of the definite article is attributed to the style of referring to rivers. The river itself was named after Jonas Bronck, a Dutch (born in Sweden) sea captain and 1641 resident whose 500 acres (2.0 km²) farm lay between the Harlem River and the Bronx River, the latter of which was then known as the Aquahung by Native Americans. Another explanation for the use of the definite article in the borough's name is that the original form of the name was possessive: The Bronck's.
如果英文水平好一点的就读原文好了。
我不逐句翻了，只是把意思说一下。有两种说法，一是来源于一条河的名字--the Bronx River。而该河的名字来源于一个人名--Jonas Bronck，他是荷兰人。熟悉纽约历史的人知道，早期纽约是荷兰的殖民地。另一种说法是来源于他所占的土地，即Bronck的土地(The Bronck's)。似乎纽约人比较倾向于后者，不管怎样，该区和此人和很大的关系。
通常说，曼哈顿主要是工作所在地，地价很高，相对居民较少。其它四区以居住为主，特别是中产阶级，大多居住郊区。
谈到纽约，很多人会想到毒品、枪支、谋杀和犯罪。其实目前来讲，纽约市是全美国最安全的大城市。这是最近的两任市长做的极其出色的成就之一。现在来说，布朗士和布鲁克林的治安差一些。通常说，黑人聚集地比较不安全，谋杀案比较多。华人聚集区抢劫和盗窃比较多，因为华人比较喜欢现金，身上和家里多少都会有些。
我刚到纽约时，曾有一次因地铁工程而我又不熟而上来到了哈林区(Harlem)。现在想来挺恐怖的--有些楼房的玻璃和门已经完全没有了，门口一些彪形大汉无所事事地站在那儿，我按着一朋友告诉我的，沿着马路边儿走，以防人家给你拉进去。我和我太太在刚来纽约时都被抢过。我不是说现在纽约太平了，只是我们比较知道了如何避免这类事发生。
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