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  • - [Narrator] Why is New York called The Big Apple?

  • Hey everybody! Welcome to the Let's Teach channel,

  • where we research interesting facts

  • and share information on just about any topic.

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  • lets me know that you might also be interested

  • in learning why the great wall of China was built.

  • We have a video on that so check it out

  • when you get a minute.

  • In this video, I'll explain why New York City

  • is called The Big Apple. Let's get started.

  • One of the most famous places around the globe,

  • New York City is a large, sprawling metropolis

  • filled with towering skyscrapers, honking yellow taxi cabs,

  • and rushing subway trains.

  • It is home to Wall Street;

  • a total of eight blocks of street

  • nestled in the city's Financial District,

  • this place drives entire industries and even economies,

  • fueling the growth of the United States.

  • But perhaps the most famous destination

  • within New York City is Fifth Avenue;

  • also referred to as Millionaire's Row.

  • This street holds a whole slew

  • of expensive and luxury brands,

  • including the department stores Bergdorf Goodman and Saks,

  • as well as retail stores Celine and Miu Miu.

  • Besides these two world-renowned streets,

  • New York City is also famous for the Statue of Liberty,

  • Times Square, the Empire State Building,

  • and the spectacular Metropolitan Museum of Art.

  • The borough of Brooklyn is known for its hippie vibe

  • while Manhattan is considered to be the city's heart,

  • an area where nearly everything can be found.

  • The incredible diversity and rich culture of New York City

  • is the reason why thousands of people

  • are drawn to its endless hustle and bustle,

  • despite the soaring cost of rent!

  • New York City is known by many nicknames,

  • one of them being The City that Never Sleeps,

  • a moniker that they earned

  • due to how its lights are seemingly never extinguished.

  • With something happening all around the city

  • at all hours of the day, this name isn't surprising at all.

  • But its other nickname, The Big Apple,

  • is undoubtedly much more confusing.

  • After all, how did New York City come to be named

  • after a fruit that doesn't even characterize it?

  • There is a lot of theories as to how New York City earned

  • the now-ubiquitous moniker, The Big Apple.

  • Some claim that this nickname

  • was due to how formerly wealthy families

  • began selling apples on the streets

  • during the Great Depression,

  • in a bid to make ends meet.

  • During this economic downturn,

  • many of the city's residents found themselves

  • jobless and without prospects.

  • Rather than beg or steal,

  • they sold apples at a profit instead.

  • On the other hand, some also argue that the term

  • originated from a woman named Eve,

  • who worked as a brothel madam during the 19th century.

  • The prostitutes that she owned were called Big Apples,

  • for reasons largely unknown.

  • However, New York City was first referred to as

  • The Big Apple in the 1909 book, "The Wayfarer in New York".

  • In its introduction, Edward Martin used the apple

  • as an extended metaphor to compare and contrast

  • the dynamics of New York City and the Midwest, writing:

  • New York is merely one of the fruits of that big tree

  • whose roots go down in the Mississippi Valley,

  • and whose branches spread from one ocean to the other,

  • but the tree has no great degree of affection for its fruit.

  • It inclines to think that the big apple

  • gets a disproportionate share of the national sap.

  • It is disturbed by the enormous drawing power

  • of a metropolis,

  • which constantly attracts to itself wealth

  • and its possessors from all the lesser centers of the land.

  • Every city, every State pays an annual tribute of men

  • and of business to New York,

  • and no State or city likes particularly to do it.

  • But the nickname only gained traction

  • when sports writer John J. Fitz Gerald

  • used it to write about the city's horse races

  • for the New York Morning Telegraph,

  • calling these The Big Apples

  • of the country's competitive racing events.

  • Because of his articles, the concept of Big Apple

  • to represent rewards that were highly sought

  • became increasingly popular,

  • spreading to the regions outside of New York City.

  • By the late 1920s and early 1930s,

  • jazz musicians began referring to the city as

  • The Big Apple, writing and singing songs

  • that used this nickname.

  • This only served to spread the moniker even further

  • and The Big Apple became New York City's nickname

  • throughout the 20th century.

  • In the 1970s, it was formally adopted by the city,

  • with the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau

  • hoping that it would revive their tourist economy,

  • which had taken a huge hit, due to the image of the city

  • as economically downtrodden and crime-ridden.

  • The moniker was made even more official in 1997

  • when then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani signed legislation

  • naming the corner where John J. Fitz Gerald

  • had lived with his family as the Big Apple Corner.

  • This place at West 54th Street and Broadway,

  • is still known by this nickname to this day.

  • Well, that's the answer. Did you know any of this stuff?

  • I didn't, so researching the topic

  • was insightful and a lot of fun.

  • What interested you the most?

  • Tell us about it in the comments below.

  • Don't forget to like the video and subscribe to the channel

  • and remember, what's learned here leaves here.

  • Share something you learned

  • about New York's nickname with a friend.

  • Stay curious, stay safe, and I'll see you in the next one.

- [Narrator] Why is New York called The Big Apple?

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