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Nicknames of New York City

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A sculpture of a red apple with the New York Mets logo on it rises above a black pedestal with the words "Home Run" in large letters.
A model of a big apple is located outside of Citi Field, the New York Mets' baseball ballpark, in Queens.

During its four-century history, New York City has been known by a variety of alternative names and euphemisms, both officially and unofficially. Frequently shortened to simply "New York", "NY", or "NYC", New York City is also known as "The City" in some parts of the Eastern United States, in particular, New York State and surrounding U.S. states.[1] New Yorkers also use "The City" to refer specifically to the borough of Manhattan.[2]

Common nicknames

Various nicknames are featured on a wall at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
  • The Big Apple – first published as a euphemism for New York City in 1921 by sportswriter John J. Fitz Gerald, who claimed he had heard it used the prior year by two stable hands at the New Orleans Fair Grounds because of the large prizes available at horse races in New York.[3] Later made popular by a 1970s advertisement campaign.[4][5]
  • The Empire City – derived from George Washington in the alleged quote "Surely this is the seat of the empire!" though first published in an 1836 newspaper as "the Empire City of the New World";[18] also in reference to New York City's status as the most populous city in New York State,[22] whose primary nickname is The Empire State.

Historic nicknames

  • America's City – a term positioning New York City as emblematic of the country post 9/11, as its premier metropolis[29][30][31]
  • Fun City – taken from a phrase in 1966 uttered by then mayor John Lindsay in response to being asked if he still liked being mayor during a crippling transit strike.[32][22] This nickname was also later derisively played on by NYPD's largest police union, who used the term "Fear City" in response to city budget cutbacks during the 1970s.[33][34]
  • The Modern Gomorrah – referring to the "sinfulness" and organized crime of Manhattan, first popularized by Reverend Thomas De Witt Talmage in 1875 at the Brooklyn Tabernacle[18]

Historical names

Names by which the parts of New York City in Lower Manhattan were officially deemed during the 17th century included:

References

  1. ^ Hickey, Walter (June 5, 2013). "22 Maps That Show How Americans Speak English Totally Differently From Each Other". Business Insider. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  2. ^ Carlson, Jen (May 21, 2012). "Do You Refer To Manhattan As "The City"?". Gothamist. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  3. ^ Hamilton, Alex (January 21, 2020). "Where Did The Nickname 'The Big Apple' Come From?". Gothamist. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Why is New York City known as "the Big Apple" and "Gotham?"". Dictionary.com, LLC. 11 September 2010. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  5. ^ Hamilton, Alec (January 21, 2020). "Where Did The Nickname 'The Big Apple' Come From?". Gothamist. Archived from the original on January 22, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  6. ^ Doueck, Ezra (September 1, 2013). "E.B White's Here is New York". Baruch College. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  7. ^ Hiaasen, Rob (October 21, 2001). "E.B. White's words on New York prove prophetic 50 years later". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  8. ^ Bexley, Erica (2010). The Myth of the Republic: Medusa and Cato in Lucan, Pharsalia 9". Lucan's "Bellum Civile": Between Epic Tradition and Aesthetic Innovation. Berlin, New York: De Gruyter. pp. 135–154. doi:10.1515/9783110229486.135. S2CID 55587717.
  9. ^ Im, Jimmy (June 29, 2018). "These are the top food cities in America — here's what to eat when you're there". CNBC. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  10. ^ Peter Minkoff (April 5, 2018). "New York - The World's Gay Capital". Your LGBTQ+ Voice. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  11. ^ Pressman, Gabe (September 27, 2010). "The President Preaches About New York, the Example". NBC New York. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  12. ^ Edward Robb Ellis (21 December 2004). The Epic of New York City: A Narrative History. Basic Books. p. 593. ISBN 9780786714360. Retrieved December 19, 2022. This City is the Center of the Universe
  13. ^ Moore, Sarah (March 22, 2011). "Explore Manhattan Neighborhoods: The Center of the Universe (aka Times Square)". Her Campus Media. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  14. ^ "Times Square The Crossroads of the World". TimesSquare.com. October 30, 2009. Archived from the original on August 13, 2013. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  15. ^ Varney, Mike (November 10, 2016). "The new non-stop flight to New York is a big deal that took a lot of work to make happen". Inside Tucson Business. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
  16. ^ Cerra, Steven (April 27, 2013). "George Russell and New York, New York". Jazz Profiles. Archived from the original on January 2, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  17. ^ Kerr, Peter (February 19, 1984). "David Letterman's off-center humor finds a home". New York Times.
  18. ^ a b c Flannigan, Jenna; Miscone, Michael (January 18, 2011). "A history of NYC nicknames". Time Out New York. Archived from the original on August 14, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  19. ^ Siegel, Allison B. (June 26, 2014). "Tracing the Origins of New York's Nickname, 'The City That Never Sleeps'". Bowery Boogie. Retrieved June 7, 2002.
  20. ^ Popik, Barry (July 19, 2004). "City That Never Sleeps". The Big Apple. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  21. ^ Gollust, Shelley (April 28, 2013). "Nicknames for New York City". Voice of America. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  22. ^ a b c Blakinger, Keri (March 8, 2016). "From Gotham to Metropolis: A look at NYC's best nicknames". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
  23. ^ Medina, Miriam (May 22, 2012). "The Five Boroughs of the City of New York: A Brief Historical Description". The History Box. Archived from the original on October 7, 2017. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  24. ^ Nigro, Carmen (January 25, 2011). "So, why do we call it Gotham anyway?". New York Public Library. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  25. ^ Gleason, Will (March 11, 2019). "Citing its diversity and culture, NYC was voted best city in the world in new global survey". TimeOut. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  26. ^ Chauvin, Kelsy (March 15, 2019). "15 Things NOT to Do in New York City". Fodor's. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  27. ^ Chang, Rachel (May 26, 2021). "Let Lin-Manuel Miranda Take You on a Virtual Tour of the 'Greatest City in the World' — His Hometown of New York City". Travel and Leisure. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  28. ^ Daniels, Les (April 1, 2004). Superman:The Complete History. Chronicle Books. p. 26. ISBN 0-8118-4231-2.
  29. ^ Lithwick, Dahlia (2020-04-03). "After 9/11, America Rallied Behind New York. Not This Time". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  30. ^ "New York City: America's City - Tripadvisor". www.tripadvisor.com. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  31. ^ "Defense.gov Deputy Secretary of Defense Speech: Navy League of the United States, New York Council (New York, NY)". archive.defense.gov. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  32. ^ "Why 1970s New York was nicknamed "Fun City"". 30 December 2016.
  33. ^ "'Welcome to Fear City' – the inside story of New York's civil war, 40 years on". The Guardian. 18 May 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  34. ^ Phillips-Fein, Kim (2017). Fear City: New York's Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics. Metropolitan Books. ISBN 978-0805095258.
  35. ^ Jacobs, Jaap (June 30, 2022). "New Amsterdam: What's in A Name?". The John Adams Institute. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  36. ^ "When New York was officially named New Orange". Ephemeral New York. March 7, 2011.