For many, maybe even most Americans, NYC might as well be a fictional place. It’s featured heavily in countless movies, TV shows, books, etc. It’s more common than Westeros, Middle Earth, or Hogwarts. And people are expected to understand these settings, at least as much as NYC.
And that’s all before you consider places like Batman’s Gotham that is very clearly NYC.
He’s dead? I didn’t even know he was sick…
(/s for anyone not familiar with his work)