In her book Metropolitan Life (1978), author Fran Lebowitz wrote:
“There are a number of reasons for this, chief among them being that to me the outdoors is what you must pass through in order to get from your apartment into a taxicab.”
This has become well known as a New Yorker’s satirical version of the “outdoors”—walking from the front door into a waiting taxi.
Wikipedia: Fran Lebowitz
Frances Ann “Fran” Lebowitz (born October 27, 1950) is an American author. Lebowitz is known for her sardonic social commentary on American life as filtered through her New York sensibilities. Some reviewers have called her a modern-day Dorothy Parker.
Google Books
Metropolitan Life
By Fran Lebowitz
New York, NY: Dutton
1978
Pg. 16:
There are a number of reasons for this, chief among them being that to me the outdoors is what you must pass through in order to get from your apartment into a taxicab.
92Y Blog
Monday, January 22, 2007
92YQ: Annabelle Gurwitch
(...)
Fran Lebowitz once said, “The great outdoors is the space between my front door and a cab” – I love that and subscribe to that philosophy.
BradWarthen.com
Kathryn Fenner (D- SC) says:
January 4, 2011 at 2:41 pm
Looking a tad ruddy, there. Maybe best to lighten up on the alcohol units.
@ bud– My recollection of English pubs was that they were akin to Fran Lebowitz’s description of the outdoors as being the space between the front door of her building and a taxi “where there were never enough comfy chairs and the lighting was not flattering to a woman of a certain age.”
LA Weekly (CA)
Best Giddy-Up and Go - 2011
Mill Creek Equestrian Center
(...)
At this full-service boarding and riding facility, a beginner can learn to handle a horse even if he believes the old New York City adage that the “outdoors” is the place between his front door and a taxi.
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:
•“I read old books because I would rather learn from those who built civilization than those who tore it down” (4/18)
•“I study old buildings because I would rather learn from those who built civilization than those who tore it down” (4/18)
•“Due to personal reasons, I’m still going to be fluffy this summer” (4/18)
•“Do not honk at me. My life is worthless. I will kill us both” (bumper sticker) (4/18)
•“Please don’t honk at me. I’ll cry” (bumper sticker) (4/18)
More new entries...
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.
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