Slumlord
A "slumlord" (or "slum landlord") is the owner of a property in disrepair who lets to tenants. The term is American and dates after the Second World War (1945--). Our first…
Lush Worker
A "lush worker" is a pickpocket who preys on drunks. People who fall asleep in the subway often get pickpocketed, and the term "lush worker" has been applied to these…
Biggest Little City in the World (summary)
"Biggest little city/town" pre-dates "Big Apple." Reno, Nevada is commonly known as the "biggest little city in the world." Although Reno has used this slogan since at…
Living Landmarks
The private New York Landmarks Conservancy began naming "living landmarks" at a fundraising dinner in 1994. These are "New Yorkers who have made New York New York." One example…
NIT (National Invitation Tournament)
Madison Square Garden plays host to college basketball's National Invitation Tournament (N.I.T.). It used to be the tops in college basketball, but that was before the NCAA college basketball…
Shea Town
Shea Stadium (named after a lawyer named Shea, not the Che on T-shirts) is the home of the New York Mets. Since about 2002, "Shea Town" has been used in rap music to mean New York City.…
Little Church Around the Corner
In 1870, a church refused to perform burial rites for a member of the acting profession. However, the actors were told that there was a "little church around the corner" (the Church of…
Two New Yorks; Other New York; How the Other Half Lives
"Two New Yorks" or "Other New York" was the campaign theme of Bronx borough president Fernando Ferrer, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2001. It is also the theme for his…
Bacardi Big Apple
"Bacardi Big Apple" (apple-flavored rum) was introduced in 2005 with a large ad campaign in New York City. A
Sidewalk Superintendent
"Sidewalk superintendent" was John D. Rockefeller Jr.'s idea. During the Depression, many unemployed workers sat at the construction sites, watched, and commented…
Hall of Fame for Great Americans
New York City has a Hall of Fame, the first one in the country. It's the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, opened in 1901, on the campus of what is now Bronx Community College. Few people…
Doggie Bag
According to legend, the "doggie bag" tradition started with the steakhouses on Manhattan's east side. Who could finish all that good food? Why let it go to waste? Why not take home…
Lou Gehrig’s Disease; “Luckiest Man” speech
Lou Gehrig was one of baseball's greatest players. His streak of playing in consecutive games was broken only recently by Cal Ripkin. Gehrig retired from the game because of ALS, but the…
“Man bites dog”
What's news? The legend goes that an editor told a reporter that when a dog bites a man, that's not news. When a man bites a dog, that's news! It is said to have started at the New…
Mungo/Mongo
"Mungo" is a word used by sanitation workers to refer to things salvaged from the trash. It haf been assumed that it comes from "mung," a cheap cloth. But no direct link has…
Glass Zoo (United Nations Building)
"Glass Zoo" is a nickname for the United Nations' glass headquarters in New York City, used by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr., in a 2005 story about John Bolton, the United States…
Beantown (Boston nickname)
The city of Beverly, Massachusetts ws known as "beantown" in the 1800s. "In fact it has obtained the sobriquet of 'Beantown'" was cited in an 1859 newspaper. People…
Big Belly (trash compactor)
"Big Belly" has been introduced to New York City. It's a new, solar-powered trash can that could be on a corner near you. "Big Belly" is a trade name by Seahorse Power…
Alamo (black cube at Astor Place)
"Alamo" is the name of the big black cube at Astor Place, opposite Cooper Union, in the middle of a traffic island. During a brief repair and cleaning in 2005, and everyone said,…
“Big Mac” (Municipal Assistance Corporation)
"Big Mac" was the nickname of the Municipal Assistance Corporation, created in 1975, during the city's fiscal crisis, to issue bonds. The "Big Mac" name was a pun on…