Knights (Queens College teams)
Queens College uses "Knights"as its team nickname. Queens Knights? New York City is has queens and kings and knights, but is short on rooks, bishops, and pawns. 12 December 1940, New York…
Kingsmen, Bridges (Brooklyn College teams)
Brooklyn College is in Kings County. The team nickname was "Kingsmen." But what do you call the women's teams? In the 1990s, the nickname was changed to "Bridges." 22…
Rams (Fordham University teams)
Many Fordham people think that the ram that died in 1927 was the origin of the Fordham "ram." That ram had been the football team's popular mascot. However, the Fordham…
Jaspers (Manhattan College teams)
The Manhattan College teams (that play in the Bronx, of course) are called the Jaspers. It's one of New York's oldest sports team nicknames -arguably the oldest continuing one. Brother…
Manhattan College (in the Bronx)
Manhattan College is in the Bronx? Well, it used to be in Manhattan. Look: "The Big Apple" doesn't have apple orchards. An "egg cream" contains neither egg nor cream.…
Redmen, Red Storm (St. John’s teams)
St. John's teams wore red. Many teams were known for the color of their uniforms: Harvard Crimson, Syracuse Orangemen, Columbia Blue and White, NYU Violets. In the 1920s, the St. John's…
Blue and White, Cubs, Lions (Columbia teams)
There are the Princeton Tigers and the Harvard Crimson. Columbia's nicknames would have both an animal (lion) and a color (blue and white). "Blue and White" came first, around 1900.…
Violets, Bobcats (NYU teams)
NYU has a sports symbol from...a library catalog? http://www.nyu.edu/athletics/clubs/mascots/history.htmlHistory of the BobcatFor more than 100 years, New York University athletes have worn the…
Beavers (CCNY teams)
"Go Beavers!" No, that's not porn coming back to Times Square. "Beaver" is the nickname of the City College of New York's sports teams. New York, historically, was a…
Mayor’s Trophy
The New York baseball teams in the American and National Leagues historically didn't play against each other, except possibly in a World Series. Starting 1910, in an informal "City…
CUNY (City University of New York)
First there was SUNY ("sue-knee," not "sunny"), the State University of New York. Then came CUNY ("cue-knee," not "cunny"), the City University of New York.…
Co-op City
"Co-op City" is that huge 1960s development in the Bronx. The parking situation there is a mess, but that's a story for another day. A good web site (with a Co-op City Web Ring) is…
Tudor City
"Tudor City," in New York City? Have we gone London? It's called "Tudor City" after the architecture and, well, that's the name the developer gave it. The first…
Manhattan Project
Why was it called the "Manhattan Project"? Didn't it take place outside of Manhattan - such as Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Los Alamos, New Mexico? There are several good web sites on…
Bi-coastal (NY & LA)
In the 1970s, people in the entertainment industry who lived and/or worked in both New York City and Los Angeles referred to themselves as "bi-coastal" (or "bicoastal"). The…
Celebutante
Paris Hilton is/was sometimes described as a "celebutante." The word is a combination of "celebrity" + "debutante." 20 July 1986, Chicago Tribune, city edition, pg.…
The Bronx? No Thonx!
The Bronx?No thonx! This - one of the shortest poems ever - is the product of Ogden Nash (1902-1971). It was called a "Geographical Reflection" in his book Hard-Lines (1931). In 1964,…
“Scrapple From the Apple” (1947)
Jazz great Charlie "Bird" Parker recorded "Scrapple from the Apple" from the Savoy in Harlem in 1947. "The Apple" meant Harlem.…
Oyster Pan Roast
"Oyster Pan Roast" is most famously served in New York City at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Terminal. The Oyster Bar has been a New York institution since 1913. "Oyster Pan…
Little Africa
Several places were called "Little Africa." 8 January 1898, New York Times, pg. 5:Church for Negroes on the West Side.The Rev. P. Butler Thompkins, pastor of St. James's Presbyterian…