I grew up in New York, spent about a decade in Manhattan itself, and have never once seen anyone capitalize either as "The City". In fact, I've never seen anyo

I grew up in New York, spent about a decade in Manhattan itself, and have never once seen anyone capitalize either as "The City". In fact, I've never seen anyone refer to any city that way except a minority of people in and around SF. This is why South Park characterized residents of the city as "in love with the smell of their own farts."