A plaque remaining from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem.

Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.

Recent entries:
“Instead of ‘British Summer Time’ and ‘Greenwich Mean Time’ we should just call them ‘Oven Clock Correct Time’...” (3/28)
“Has anyone here ever drank a pint of tequila? I know it’s a long shot” (3/28)
“A pint of tequila? That’s a long shot” (3/28)
“The U.S. should add three more states. Because 53 is a prime number. Then they can truly be one nation, indivisible” (3/28)
“My love for the truth outweighs my fear of offending you” (3/28)
More new entries...

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z


Entry from February 05, 2013
“Even if you are one in a million, there are eight more of you in New York”

The expression “you’re one in a million” means that a person is very special; a literal calculation of a million people is not intended. There is an expression “even if you’re one in a million, there are still thousands of people just like you.” New York City has a population of over eight million people, and the New York expression is “even if you are one in a million, there are eight more of you in New York.”
 
“Even if you are one in a million, there are seven more of you in New York” was cited in New York magazine in July 1983, spoken by writer and comedian Carl Waxman.
 
   
Google Books
18 July 1983, New York magazine, pg. 23, col. 1:
Or, as writer and comedian Carl Waxman once put it, “even if you are one in a million, there are seven more of you in New York.”
 
16 October 1983, San Diego (CA) Union, pg. E-6, col. 1:
“Even if you’re one in a million, there’ll be eight of you in New York. New York has a tremendous advantage as far as the arts are concerned. It’s a matter of people and buildings.”
(New York arts critic Clive Barnes—ed.)
 
20 August 1989, Chicago (IL) Sun-Times, “Chicago Poetry: It ain’t for sissies” by Patricia Smith, pg. 1:
In New York, you’re lost in the muddle. Even if you’re one in a million, there are still thousands just like you.
 
25 October 1998, Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer, “Jack Hardy defers to others,” pg. F1:
“In New York, even if you’re one in a million, there’s eight more of you here.”
 
Google Books
The Manhattan Health Pages:
A resource guide to educate, pamper, and inspire you

By Lyn Skreczko and Virginia Bell
New York, NY: The Little Bookroom
1999
Pg. 267:
It’s been said that in New York, even if you’re one in a million, there are fifteen more like you.
   
Google Books
You Are Here:
A Memoir of Arrival

By Wesley Gibson
Boston, MA: Back Bay Books/Little, Brown
2004
Pg. ?:
There’s a saying in New York that if you’re one in a million there are still ten more just like you. And that’s exactly right. It isn’t so much that there’s too much of everything, though there’s certainly that, it’s that there’s not one of anything.
   
Google Books
Working in American Theatre:
A brief history, career guide and resource book for over 1,000 theatres

By Jim Volz
London: Menthuen Drama
2007
Pg. ?:
Pithy quote – from Bernard Sahlins, founder of Chicago’s Second City to his company before a New York opening: “Just remember, guys, in New York City, if you’re one in a million, there’s thirteen o’ yas.”
   
Larry Miller Humor
BIGGER THAN YOU THINK
by Larry Miller  
Monday, November 15th, 2010
(...)
As my friend Carl Waxman used to say, “In New York City, even if you really are one-in-a-million, there are eight more just like you.”

Posted by Barry Popik
New York CityNames/Phrases • Tuesday, February 05, 2013 • Permalink


Commenting is not available in this channel entry.