From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
City nicknames
During its four-century history,
New York City (also commonly known as New York) has been known by a variety of alternative names and euphemisms, both officially and unofficially. Frequently shortened to simply "NY" or "NYC", New York 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
The Big Apple – first used as a reference to the city's prominence in
horse racing by
John J. Fitz Gerald during the 1920s but made popular by a 1970s advertisement campaign
[3]
[4]
The Capital of the World (Caput Mundi ) – popularized by the author
E. B. White
[5]
[6] and by
New York Mayor
Rudy Giuliani
[7]
The Center of the Universe
[8] – particularly in reference to
Times Square
[3]
[9]
[10]
The City So Nice They Named It Twice – a reference to "New York, New York" as both the city and state, spoken by
Jon Hendricks in 1959 on a jazz cover of
Lorenz Hart and
Richard Rodgers ' song "
Manhattan " on
George Russell 's album
New York, N.Y. ,
[11] and popularized by New York-based
late night talk show host
David Letterman , who also used the phrase "the town so nice, they named it twice."
[12]
The City That Never Sleeps – first recorded in full in newspaper articles in the early 1900s, including in 1907 in
Phoenix, Arizona in reference to New York's evening mail delivery and in 1912 in
Fort Wayne, Indiana about New York's new electric and gas lighting,
[7] though also recorded in similar forms in reference to the nightlife in neighborhoods like the Bowery as early as 1892 and likely in use during the 1880s.
[13]
[14] Popularized by
John Kander and Fred Ebb's song "
New York, New York " from the
Martin Scorsese 1977
film of the same name .
[15]
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";
[7] also in reference to New York City's status as the most populous city in
New York State ,
[16] whose primary nickname is The
Empire State .
The Five Boroughs – a reference to the counties that consolidated into New York City in 1898, and often used to distinguish the
city proper from
Manhattan alone or the
New York metropolitan area
[17]
The Gay Capital of the World – a reference to New York City’s outsized influence upon
LGBT culture worldwide
[18]
Gotham – first used by
Washington Irving in his satirical periodical
Salmagundi in November 1807 as an allusion to the tale of the
Wise Men of Gotham , and made popular as
Gotham City , the location of
Batman comics, first specified in December 1940's Batman #4 , written by
Bill Finger
[19]
The Greatest City in the World – reflective of the city's overall global prominence and cultural diversity,
[20]
[21] and popularized by the song
The Schuyler Sisters from
Lin-Manuel Miranda 's musical
Hamilton
[22]
The Melting Pot – a reference to the wide variety of ethnicities and language groups in the city, and popularized by various authors including playwright
Israel Zangwill in his 1908 play
The Melting Pot
Metropolis – popularized as
the location of
Superman comics, first specified in 1939 and itself an allusion to the setting of the
Fritz Lang film
Metropolis (1927),
[23] used to describe New York City in the daytime, in contrast to Gotham , sometimes used to describe New York City at night.
[16]
Historic nicknames
America's City – a term positioning New York City as emblematic of the country post
9/11 , as its premier
metropolis
[24]
[25]
[26]
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.
[27]
[16] 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.
[28]
[29]
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
[7]
Historical names
Names by which the parts of New York City in
Lower Manhattan were officially deemed during the 17th century included:
References
^ Hickey, Walter (June 5, 2013).
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^ Carlson, Jen (May 21, 2012).
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^
a
b
"Why is New York City known as "the Big Apple" and "Gotham?" " . Dictionary.com, LLC. 11 September 2010. Retrieved July 7, 2013 .
^ Hamilton, Alec (January 21, 2020).
"Where Did The Nickname 'The Big Apple' Come From?" . Gothamist . Archived from
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^
"About New York City" . The City of New York. 2011. Archived from
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^ Sherman, Eugene J.
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^
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^ Edward Robb Ellis.
The Epic of New York City: A Narrative History . Basic Books. p. 593. Retrieved December 19, 2022 . This City is the Center of the Universe
^ Moore, Sarah (March 22, 2011).
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^
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^ Cerra, Steven (April 27, 2013).
"George Russell and New York, New York" . Jazz Profiles . Retrieved January 1, 2018 .
^ Kerr, Peter (February 19, 1984).
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^ Siegel, Allison B. (June 26, 2014).
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^ Popik, Barry (July 19, 2004).
"City That Never Sleeps" . The Big Apple . Retrieved June 7, 2022 .
^ Gollust, Shelley (April 28, 2013).
"Nicknames for New York City" .
Voice of America . Retrieved July 7, 2013 .
^
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 .
^ Medina, Miriam (May 22, 2012).
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the original on October 7, 2017. Retrieved September 3, 2014 .
^ Peter Minkoff (April 5, 2018).
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^ Nigro, Carmen (January 25, 2011).
"So, why do we call it Gotham anyway?" .
New York Public Library . Retrieved July 7, 2013 .
^ Gleason, Will (March 11, 2019).
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^ Chauvin, Kelsy (March 15, 2019).
"15 Things NOT to Do in New York City" . Fodor's. Retrieved May 19, 2019 .
^ 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 .
^ Daniels, Les (April 1, 2004).
Superman:The Complete History . Chronicle Books. p. 26.
ISBN
0-8118-4231-2 .
^ Lithwick, Dahlia (2020-04-03).
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^
"New York City: America's City - Tripadvisor" . www.tripadvisor.com . Retrieved 2020-08-13 .
^
"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 .
^
"Why 1970s New York was nicknamed "Fun City" " . 30 December 2016.
^
" '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 .
^ Phillips-Fein, Kim (2017). Fear City: New York's Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics . Metropolitan Books.
ISBN
080509525X .
^
"When New York was officially named New Orange" . Ephemeral New York . March 7, 2011.