Why is New York nicknamed the Big Apple?

New Yorkers often refer to their city as the Big Apple. Discover the fascinating origin of this famous nickname and what it really means.

The Big Apple nickname appeared in 1924

American cities love their nicknames: Las Vegas is “Sin City,” Chicago is “Windy City,” San Francisco is “Frisco,” and Detroit is “The Motor City.” New York earned the nickname “Big Apple.”
The nickname seems odd at first. While New York State is the second-largest apple producer in the United States after Washington State, you won’t find many apple orchards in New York City.
So where did the Big Apple nickname come from? After years of debate, historians agree the nickname first appeared in print from a sports journalist at the New York Morning Telegraph, John J. Fitz Gerald. On February 18, 1924, he wrote a column titled “Around the Big Apple” with these words: “The Big Apple. The dream of every lad that ever threw a leg over a horse and the goal of all horsemen. There is only one Big Apple. It is New York.”

Fitz Gerald claimed he first heard the nickname in stables in New Orleans, where workers called New York the “Big Apple.” The city had the largest racetracks in the United States at the time, with the biggest prize purses—the “Apples.” In his article, Fitz Gerald recounted the conversation: one worker asked, “Where are we headed now?” and the other replied, “We’re heading to the Big Apple.” From then on, Fitz Gerald constantly referred to New York as the Big Apple, gradually popularizing the nickname. The jazz world embraced it too, seeing New York as the capital of music.
Over time, the nickname faded from use. It returned to prominence in the 1970s, when New York was a very different city: dirty streets and crime rates among the highest in the country.
To improve its image, the city launched an advertising campaign in 1971. A jazz fan rediscovered the Big Apple nickname, and it was chosen for the campaign. T-shirts and posters spread the name across the city, and the Big Apple’s modern career truly began.

Historians now dismiss other explanations as fanciful. One claims the nickname came from the Great Depression, when ruined families sold apples on New York’s streets after the Wall Street crash in 1929.
Another theory says jazz musicians had a lump in their throat from nervousness, like an apple stuck there. It’s pure fiction, but these old stories persist.
Next time you meet a New Yorker, ask them where the Big Apple nickname comes from. You’ll likely get a different answer each time.