TechEcho

Washington DC is there - it's labeled "District of Columbia"

This is amusing and absolutely true.The small town (population: 120,000) that I grew up appears on Google Maps before NYC or Washington are visible.

Its probably decided by algorithm. It seems to that several states are very small in that area and maybe too many names will obscure state borders.

Perhaps being an 'important' well-known city counts against being displayed. The more well-known a city is, the less likely you need it to be displayed on the most zoomed-out levels. You know where to click to zoom in if you want to see New York City.Rather than dismissing Google and Yahoo in favour of Bing, I'd be interested to see if there's any actual user testing in favour one way or the other. Otherwise, it's just uninformed opinion on what 'should' be the best way to use a map.

This post is yet another example of the incredible inferiority complex of the New York tech scene.//sarcasm

Honestly, my first thought was:"To 'thwart' 'terrorists'."

Special request of Homeland Security. If terrorists don't know where NYC and Washington are, then they can't harm us. I can't believe anybody wouldn't be aware of this in these days of heightened awareness.

"Given its immense importance…".I wonder if Justin O'Beirne lives in NYC?