Why is New York City referred to as The Big Apple?

New York City has earned a variety of nicknames—“The Great American Melting Pot,” “Gotham,” “The City that Never Sleeps”—but none is more iconic than “The Big Apple.” But where did this now-famous name come from?

THE BIG APPLE ORIGIN

Over the years, numerous theories have surfaced about how New York City got the name “The Big Apple.” Some suggest it stems from affluent families selling apples on the streets during the Great Depression to survive. Others claim the name was popularized by a 19th-century brothel madam named Eve, whose workers were called her “Big Apples.” However, the true origin of the nickname can be traced to a phrase used by John J. Fitz Gerald, a sports writer for

The Morning Telegraph, in his horse racing column, “Around the Big Apple.” Starting on February 18, 1924, he began each article with, “The Big Apple. The dream of every lad that ever threw a leg over a thoroughbred and the goal of all horsemen. There's only one Big Apple. That's New York.”

At that time, jockeys and trainers with smaller horses were said to aspire to win a 'Big Apple,' which referred to the grand prize money from major races in and around New York City.

Fitz Gerald reportedly first encountered the term 'The Big Apple' while hearing it used by two African American stable hands at the renowned New Orleans Fair Grounds. He recounted the moment in his debut 'Around the Big Apple' column: 'Two dusky stable hands were leading a pair of thoroughbreds around the ‘cooling rings’ of adjoining stables at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans and engaging in casual conversation. ‘Where y'all goin' from here?’ asked one. ‘From here we’re headin’ for The Big Apple,’ the other proudly replied. ‘Well, you’d better fatten up them skinners or all you’ll get from the apple will be the core,’ came the sharp retort.' Fitz Gerald seized the phrase for his column, and it rapidly gained popularity.

SPREADING THE WORD

Once the term caught on up north, it gradually moved beyond horse racing circles and began appearing in references to everything from Harlem nightclubs to songs and dances about the city, all dubbed 'The Big Apple.' New York jazz musicians of the 1930s—who frequently used the nickname for their hometown in their music—were instrumental in spreading the name far beyond the northeast.

By the mid-20th century, 'The Big Apple' remained New York City's favorite moniker until the 1970s, when the city officially adopted it. The New York Convention & Visitors Bureau believed that using the nickname would help improve the image of a city suffering from economic hardship and high crime rates, while revitalizing tourism. In 1997, to honor Fitz Gerald, then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani signed a law designating the corner where Fitz Gerald and his family had lived, at West 54th Street and Broadway between 1934 and 1963, as 'Big Apple Corner.'