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:
•“The ‘W’ in Wednesday stands for wine” (4/24)
•Entry in progress—BP18 (4/24)
•Entry in progress—BP17 (4/24)
•Entry in progress—BP16 (4/24)
•Entry in progress—BP15 (4/24)
More new entries...
Follow
@barrypopik
Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
This site is edited by Barry Popik. These are the Cookies and Privacy Policies.
About the Site Editor
“Why is New York City called the Big Apple?”
“Big Apple” Cohen-Popik Work On Television (?)
Big Apple bet (1988, 2003) between mayors of New York City and Columbia, South Carolina
“Big Apple” in Kurt Vonnegut Jr.‘s novel Slaughterhouse-Five (1969)
Big Apple Corner (1992-1997)
Big Apple Corner (1997 Law & Today)
1920s Non-Horseracing “Big Apple” Citations
Damon Runyon (who never used “Big Apple”)
Big Apple 1970s Revival: Charlie Gillett and Lew Rudin
Off Topic: Charles Gillett on Conventions
Only in New York
Big Apple Fame and Fortune
Great White Way (Broadway)
“Fun City” nickname (1966)
Yankees (American League baseball team)
Bronx Bombers (New York Yankees nickname)
Subway Series (Subway World Series)
Tin Pan Alley (West 28th Street)
It’s A Nice Place to Visit, But I Wouldn’t Want to Live There
“Like Grand Central Station” (congested with people)
“How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” (joke)
Audrey Munson (New York’s “Civic Fame” and “Miss Manhattan,” San Francisco’s “World’s Fair Girl”)
Finest, Bravest, Strongest, Boldest, Best, Proudest (New York City superlatives)
New Yorker (inhabitant of New York)
Big Apple Timeline
Peacock Alley
Ground Zero
“Go fight city hall” (proverb)
Coney Island Chicken (hot dog)
Capital of the World
Thoity Thoid and Thoid (33rd Street and Third Avenue)
Hero Sandwich
Bronx Cheer
First “Big Apple” citation: May 3, 1921
First “Big Apple” explanation: February 18, 1924
Second “Big Apple” explanation: December 1, 1926
“Big Apple” date?: January 15, 1920
1928: “On the Big Apple” column
1931: “Around The Big Apple” column
Witness (1998): Washington Post writer Shirley Povich
Manhattan Cocktail
Waldorf Salad
Big Apple plaque (1996)
Steak Diane
Danish Pastry
Sand Hog (Sandhog)
Hizzoner (his honor)
“Who is buried in Grant’s Tomb?” (riddle/joke)
Hooker
Beep (Borough President)
Ice Cream Sandwich
Depression Apple Sellers (1930s)
Big Apple Whore Hoax (1800s)
Edward Martin metaphor (1909)
Big Apple dance craze (1937)
Harlem’s jazz musicians (1930s)
Manzana Principal (suggested in 1966)
Lands of the Big Red Apples
Twenty-Three Skidoo (23rd Street myth)
Buy/Sell the Brooklyn Bridge
Amazin’ Mets (Amazins)
Big A (Aqueduct Racetrack nickname, 1959)
Manhattan Clam Chowder (Coney Island Clam Chowder; Fulton Market Clam Chowder)
Egg Cream
Skycap
Big Onion
Wall Street (from a graveyard to a river)
Fugeddaboutit! (“forget about it”)
“Greatest Show on Earth”
Ambulance Chaser
Bronx Cocktail
I’d rather be a lamppost in New York than mayor anywhere else
“Indict a ham sandwich”
Shyster
Hot Dog (Polo Grounds myth & a full etymology)
Hot Dog Roll (Hot Dog Bun; Vienna Roll)
911 (emergency call)
Bloody Mary (cocktail)
Knish
Numerous 1920s “Big Apple” citations in the New York Morning Telegraph
New York Minute (or, New York Nanosecond)
Gray Lady/Grey Lady; Paper of Record; All the News That’s Fit to Print (New York Times)
Parkie/Parky
Bagdad-on-the-Subway
“New York, New York—so nice, they named it twice”
Gotham
Little Italy
Chinatown
Hell’s Kitchen
Silk Stocking District
Tenderloin
Big Blue; Big Blue Wrecking Crew
Big Board
Black Rock (CBS); Hard Rock (ABC); 30 Rock (NBC)
Lipstick Building
1963: John J. Fitz Gerald obituaries
Gang Green (New York Jets nickname)
Statue of Liberty Play (football)
Naked City