“I Love NY” (“I Love NY More Than Ever”)

“I Love New York” is a New York State promotional campaign, trademarked from July 15, 1977. The campaign includes the now-iconic “I (heart) NY” logo by Milton Glaser and Bobby Zarem, and a song by Steve Karmen. The theme of “I love New York” had also been used in 1976 by several boosters of New York City, during that financially troubled period.
   
After the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, Glaser reworked his logo to read:  “I (heart) NY More Than Ever.” Parody T-shirts include “I feel relatively neutral about New York” and “I only like NY as a friend.”
   
“We Love NYC” or “We Love New York City” (“We *heart* NYC”) is a promotional campaign that began in March 2023.
     
   
Wikipedia: I Love New York
I Love New York is both a logo and a song that are the basis of an advertising campaign and have been used since the mid-1970s to promote tourism in New York City, and later to promote New York State as well. The trademarked logo appears in souvenir shops and brochures throughout the state, some licensed, many not. The song is the state song of New York.
 
Logo
The logo is a rebus that was created by Milton Glaser and Bobby Zarem consisting of the capital letter I, followed by a red heart symbol (♥), below which are the capital letters N and Y, set in a rounded slab serif typeface called American Typewriter.
 
In 1977, William S. Doyle, Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Department of Commerce hired advertising agency Wells Rich Greene to develop a marketing campaign for New York State. Doyle also recruited Milton Glaser, a productive graphic designer to work on the campaign, and created the design based on Wells Rich Greene’s advertising campaign. Glaser expected the campaign to last only a couple months and did the work pro bono. It was possibly inspired in part by the state tourism slogan Virginia is for Lovers which had featured a “Love” theme and red heart symbol (♥) since 1969. The innovative pop-style icon became a major success and has continued to be sold for years. In the popular mind (though this was not the original intention) the logo has become closely associated with New York City, and the placement of the logo on plain white T-shirts readily sold in the city has widely circulated the appearance of the image, making it a commonly recognized symbol.

The image became especially prominent following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the city, which created a sense of unity among the populace. Many visitors to the city following the attacks purchased and wore the shirts bearing the I Love New York logo as a sign of their support. Glaser created a modified version to commemorate the attacks, reading “I Love NY More Than Ever”, with a little black spot on the heart symbolizing the World Trade Center site. The black spot approximates the site’s location on Manhattan Island.
 
17 October 1975, New York (NY) Times, “Theater: Al Carmine’s ‘Why I Love New York’” by Mel Gussow, pg. 25:
Al Carmine’s New York, as extolled in his new musical atthe Judson Memorial Church, “Why I Love New York,” is no boost to tourism. There is one scene in the lofty Museum of Modern Art, but with its parade of street people—bums, rag-ickers, prostitutes, hustlers—the show is much more at home on seedy Eighth Avenue.
 
11 March 1976, New York (NY) Times, “Rohatyn’s Work on City Debt Repays one of His Own,” pg. 39:
It was Felix J. Rohatyn’s turn to tell “Why I Love New York” at its New School Tuesday night.
     
24 March 1976, New York (NY) Times, :Udall Pledges Billions in Transit Aid” by Charles Mohr, pg. 21:
The other day, Representative Morris K. Udall tramped the streets of New York wearing a lapel button decorated with a big apple and the words “I love New York.”
 
14 November 1976, NewYork (NY) Times, pg. 451 ad:
“I LOVE NEW YORK”. On a 14k yellow gold pendant. About 15” long. By Anchor Casting Co. Inc. 60.00.
 
28 June 1977, New York (NY) Times, “Advertising: Selling NewYork as the Placeto Be” by Philip H. Doherty, pg. 55:
The most ambitious and extensive advertising program ever undertaken to make New York State a tourist mecca broke last night on TV in 20 markets in and around the state.
 
“I love New York,” shouts a woman from WestVirginia and men from NewHampshire, Massachusetts and Brooklyn, filmed in a variety of beautiful locations by Mike Zingale, director-cameraman.
 
The background music, as a camera zooms around the Finger Lakes, Niagara Fallsw, Fire Island, Lake Placid, Whiteface Mountain and other scenic spots, is a new song, “I Love NewYork,” by Steve Karmen.
 
The State Commerce Department, working with an unprecedented $4.3 million budget, is mounting a five-week media blitz to establish the state in vacationers’ minds as the place to be.
 
New York (NY) Times
A NATION CHALLENGED: REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK; A Wounded Heart
By THOMAS J. LUECK
Published: September 20, 2001
For Milton Glaser, the graphic artist still celebrated for his 1975 ‘‘I New York’’ poster, it came like a thunderbolt on the morning after.
 
’‘I woke up Wednesday morning and said, ‘God, I have to do something to respond to this,’ ‘’ Mr. Glaser said yesterday. The result, on the front of The Daily News yesterday, was a more nuanced and perhaps unsettling version of his poster, with part of the heart scarred in black.
 
The artist’s revised message, he said, is that he loves New York ‘‘more than ever.’‘
   
New York (NY) Times
Metro Matters; New Yorkers, Walking a Line To Keep Going
By JOYCE PURNICK
Published: October 15, 2001
(...)
MR. GLASER, who designed the ‘‘I NY’’ poster in 1975, said much the same about the revised slogan he devised in the aftermath of the attack: ‘‘I NY More Than Ever,’’ with a black mark on the red heart. You may have seen it on some posters produced by volunteers at the School for Visual Arts.

Mr. Glaser said he did not want a penny from the logo, but hoped to use it to help charities that are suffering as people divert donations to the relief effort.
 
But New York State owns the original logo and retains the rights to any revisions, said David M. Catalfamo, senior deputy commissioner for Empire State Development: ‘‘We think the heart of New York is bigger and stronger than ever. We don’t want to show a damaged heart.’‘
 
’‘You have to acknowledge pain to begin the healing process,’’ said Mr. Glaser, calling that ‘‘the whole justification’’ for the revision. In talks with a state official, he proposed that New York use the slogan without the mark, and allow him to use it his way for charity. The idea was rejected.
     
New York (NY) Times
‘I Love New York’ Campaign, 30 Years Old, Gets Web Push
By JAMES BARRON
Published: July 11, 2007
(...)
The “I Love New York” Web site (http://www.iloveny.com) was retooled in the spring. Now the corporation has added a page (http://www.iloveny.com/getoutoftown) aimed at last-minute vacationers from downstate New York and from Toronto who do not want to deal with the troubles of flying this summer. The new page lets them find vacation packages that they can drive to. (Not all the destinations on the page are upstate. Long Island and Westchester County are also among the choices for destinations.)
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark I LOVE NY
Goods and Services IC 035. US 100 101. G & S: PROMOTING THE STATE OF NEW YORK AS A TOURIST ATTRACTION AND ENHANCING ITS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. FIRST USE: 19770715. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19770715
Mark Drawing Code (3) DESIGN PLUS WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS
Design Search Code 02.11.01 - Hearts excluding hearts as carriers or depicted on playing cards
Serial Number 73759037
Filing Date October 21, 1988
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Published for Opposition July 4, 1989
Registration Number 1558379
Registration Date September 26, 1989
Owner (REGISTRANT) NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STATE AGENCY NEW YORK 30 South Pearl Street ALBANY NEW YORK 12245
Attorney of Record David P. Miranda, Esq.
Prior Registrations 1179477;AND OTHERS
Description of Mark THE MARK IS LINED FOR THE COLOR RED.
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Affidavit Text SECT 15. SECT 8 (6-YR). SECTION 8(10-YR) 20091002.
Renewal 1ST RENEWAL 20091002
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE
 
(Trademark)
Word Mark I NY
Goods and Services IC 016. US 002 005 022 023 029 037 038 050. G & S: address books, cookbooks, travel books, and date books; stationery; address labels; calendars; greeting cards; note cards; note pads; writing paper; desk-top diaries; photo albums; gift wrapping paper; posters; document portfolios; personal organizers; desk-top organizers; stationery organizers; letter openers; pens; general purpose plastic shopping bags; paper weights; bookends; bookmarks; and paper bags. FIRST USE: 19770715. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19770715
Mark Drawing Code (3) DESIGN PLUS WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS
Design Search Code 02.11.01 - Hearts excluding hearts as carriers or depicted on playing cards
Serial Number 78614517
Filing Date April 22, 2005
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Published for Opposition January 17, 2006
Registration Number 3097782
Registration Date May 30, 2006
Owner (REGISTRANT) New York State Department of Economic Development STATE AGENCY NEW YORK 6th Floor 30 South Pearl Street Albany NEW YORK 12245
Attorney of Record David P. Miranda, Esq.
Prior Registrations 1555836;2431705;2769939;AND OTHERS
Description of Mark The color(s) black and red is/are claimed as a feature of the mark. The mark consists of characters in black and a heart in red.
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE