Metropolis of America

"Metropolis” (from the Greek word polis for “city") means “a large city” and is not a city nickname peculiar to New York City. In the 1700s, Philadelphia (and sometimes Boston)…

Modern Gomorrah

The Biblical city names of Sodom and Gomorrah have been used to describe any modern city that is sinful. New York City (nicknamed "Gotham") has infrequently been called a…

N.Y.C.

The Oxford English Dictionary's March 2004 revision contains my 1869 entry as the earliest for the initials "N.Y.C." representing New York City. "N.Y." is far more common.;…

Naked City

"There are eight million stories in the Naked City. This has been one of them." Does anyone remember that line? There was a tv show called Naked City and a movie called Naked City.…

New Amsterdam

The Encyclopedia of New York City (1995) is terse on New Amsterdam. The following entry is credited to no one: "The former name of New York City, first used in the mid-1620s. On 1 February…

New Jack City

"New Jack City" is a hip-hop term for New York City. The 1991 film of this name popularized the term, but also limited its use. If you say "New Jack City," people think…

New Wild Boar Village

"York" has been translated as "place of yew trees" and as "wild boar town." In 2008, The Atlas of True Names suggested that the true name of New York City is "New…

Noisyville-on-the-Subway

American writer O. Henry (the pen name of William Sydney Porter, 1862-1910) wrote in the short story "The Duel: A Story of New York" (1906): "What's that? Oh, you've still…

Port-au-Prince of America

On March 13, 2024, New York City Mayor Eric Adams posted on X/Twitter: "We call New York City the Port-Au-Prince of America. We feel the pain our Haitian neighbors feel as the situation grows…

Proud City

"Proud City" was a short-lived nickname coined by Mayor John Lindsay in 1966. "Fun City" was also Lindsay's. 1 January 1966, New York Herald Tribune, pg. 1:John V. Lindsay…

Public Health Capital of the World

Geneva, Switzerland (home of the World Health Organization and Atlanta, Georgia (home of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) have both been called the "Public Health Capital of the…

Satan’s Seat

New York City has sometimes been called "Satan's Seat." "The late sensation in New York (where Satan's seat is) has roused us to a fresh conception of his terrific reign…

Second City of the World

The nickname "Second City of the World" (or "Second City in the World") was popularized with the 1898 consolidation of Manhattan, Brooklyn and other areas into Greater New York.…

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.…