Rucker basketball tournament (“each one teach one”)
The Rucker basketball tournament in Harlem was conceived in the 1940s and 1950s by Holcombe Rucker, a parks department worker who died of cancer in 1965 at age 38. His motto was "each one…
Reggae Carifest
The annual "Reggae Carifest" has been held in Forest Hills, Queens and Randall's Island and Coney Island. It's been an annual event since 1998.…
Shakespeare in the Park (New York Shakespeare Festival)
Joseph Papp (1921-1991) founded the New York Shakespeare Festival and "Shakespeare in the Park" in the 1950s. Free Shakespeare in the summer in Central Park is now a ritual, but Papp…
“Food Lover’s Market” (Balducci’s)
Balducci's used to be on Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village. It's now opening a store on 14th Street and Eighth Avenue. "Food Lover's Market" is a recent (2004)…
CHUD (Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers)
C.H.U.D. was a 1984 movie about the "cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers" of New York City. The term "chud" is still sometimes used. http://www.pseudodictionary.comchud…
Taste of the Village
The "Taste of the Village" (Greenwich Village, of course) began in 2003. Greenwich Village has loads of restaurants you can visit every day; the "taste" is just a small taste.…
Big Apple Grapple (arm wrestling)
The "Big Apple Grapple" is the big event in the arm wrestling world. The first such event was in the late 1970s; it used to take place in the World Trade Center.…
Mostly Mozart
Lincoln Center's "Mostly Mozart" festival includes music mostly by Mozart, but also by Haydn and Schubert. The series began in 1966.…
Brownstone
"Brownstone" apartments can be found in some of the older sections of New York. They were popular in the early 19th century. The term probably originated in New York. (Oxford English…
No pork on my fork
"No pork on my fork" is a phrase associated with the Nation of Islam. It's the name of a Harlem restaurant and it has been used in rap lyrics. Big Daddy Kane is a member of The Five…
Circle of Taste
The ultra-expensive restaurants of the Time Warner Center (Columbus Circle) organized a first "Circle of Taste" in 2005. This could become an annual charity event.…
Finntown
"Finntown," in the Sunset Park area of Brooklyn, was a popular area for immigrants from Finland in the 1880s and 1890s, but it's barely recognizable as Finntown today. The Finns had…
Skyscraper-Harlem Cycling Classic
The Skyscraper-Harlem Cycling Classic takes place in June in Marcus Garvey Park. It started in the 1970s and is billed as "New York City's oldest criterium."…
The Great Saunter (32-mile walk around Manhattan)
"The Great Saunter" is the Shorewalkers name for its 32-mile walk around Manhattan's rim. The New York City Marathon, by comparison, is a mere 26.2 miles long. The Shorewalkers…
Scullers’ Row
"Scullers' Row" (or "Sculler's Row") is in the Sherman Creek area of Washington Heights/Inwood. Scullers' Row used to have many rowing clubs, but that disappeared…
Bus (slang term for ambulance)
"Bus" is a slang term for "ambulance" that dates to before World War I. (Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Vol. I A-G)bus n.(...)2. an automobile or other…
Manhattanization
"Manhattanization" actually comes from San Francisco! In the late 1960s and early 1970s, San Franciscans were afraid that new skyscrapers would block out their veiw of the hills.…
Uptown Arts Stroll
The Uptown Arts Stroll began in 2003 in Washington Heights and Inwood. Artists use local restaurants and stores as if it were all one large art gallery. The "art stroll" had been used…
Restaurant Week ($19.92…$20.12)
"Restaurant Week" got started in 1992 (although it wasn't called that back then), when restaurants began charging $19.92 for meals. Restaurant Week was less than a week when it…
Central Park SummerStage
Central Park began its "SummerStage" program in 1986. It was not the first "SummerStage;" Hartford and Chicago both had earlier festivals. SummerStage consists of events…