“New York, New York—so nice, they named it twice”

"So nice, they named it twice" is what some people say about New York, New York. The saying has been used by other cities as well, such as Walla Walla, Washington.

""New York, New York. A city so nice they had to name it twice" is in the song "Manhattan" from the album New York, N.Y. (1959) by George Russell (1923-2009), sung by Jon Hendricks (1921-2017).

"New York's so nice they named it twice" was cited in print in 1968, when musician Clark Terry added these lyrics to the song "Take the 'A' Train." So Nice They Named It Twice (1975) was the title of a play by Neil Harris at Joseph Papp's Public Theater, performed in 1976.


Wikipedia: New York, New York (So Good They Named It Twice)
"New York, New York (So Good They Named It Twice)" is a song performed and composed by singer-songwriter Gerard Kenny in 1978. The song is an ode to his hometown and state New York, New York.
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On the 1959 album by George Russell, New York, NY (Decca Records), on the first track, Rodgers and Hart's "Manhattan", vocalist Jon Hendricks says at 0:44 "... a city so nice, they had to name it twice..."

YouTube
George Russell: Manhattan
Aug 19, 2015
John Beake
Original Album: New York, N.Y. (1959)
Narrator: Jon Hendricks
Tenor Sax: John Coltrane
Piano: Bill Evans
Trumpet: Art Farmer
Tromnone: Bob Brookmeyer
Drums: Charlie Persip
Bass: Milt Hinton
Guitar: Barry Galbraith
0:42
"New York, New York. A city so nice they had to name it twice."

Newspapers.com
13 September 1959, The Sunday Press (Binghamton, NY), "Disc-ussion" by Hank Hancock, pg. 6-C, col. 7:
"New York, New York," DL 9216. This George Russell composition, or compilation, tells the story of the Big City and tells it well.
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"New York, New York. A town so nice they had to name it twice," says narrator Hendricks.

30 March 1968, The Christian Science Monitor (Boston, MA), "Fresh discs of Dixieland: Trombone dialogues 'It's What's Happenin' Exuberant horn Rapid clusters" by Amy Lee, pg. 10, col. 4:
His (Clark Terry -- ed.) husky oval on "Take the 'A' Train" provides another imaginary dialogue, this time with an imaginary visitor just come to town. Conversation ("whatcha say, baby, got change for a quarter?") alternates with scat -- "New York's so nice they named it twice...Goin' to Harlem...Man, you in for a good time."

May 1971, Essence (New York, NY), "Conversation: Ida Lewis, pg. 32, col. 1:
IDA: Yeah, I remember New York. The number one city in the world. My cousin says the city is so nice they named it twice.

6 March 1973, The Journal-News (Rockland County, NY), "In prison, New York is "The Big Apple'" by Jimmie Neal Beasley, weekend sec., pg. 12, col. 1:
"New York, New York, The Big Apple," our first performance at the prison, was a play about the dozen games Black people play.
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All material used in the play depicted Black and Puerto Rican life in New York City, "The Big Apple," a city so nice they named it twice.

OCLC WorldCat record
American playwrights at Joseph Papp's Public Theater : parts one and two
Author: Joseph Papp; Margaret Croyden; John Musilli; Michael Livesy; Ed Gleason; All authors
Publisher: New York : [publisher not identified], [1976] ©1976
Edition/Format: eVideo : 3.5 in. disc : Videocassette : Clipart/images/graphics : U-matic Archival Material : English
Summary:
Two-part documentary on theatrical producer Joseph Papp's work as a producer of plays by contemporary American playwrights. The program features interviews with Papp, combined with profiles of four productions currently being staged or developed at his Public Theater. The play profiles feature performance footage and interviews with the playwrights. In part one, Papp discusses what he believes to be these playwrights' views of American life and society, as well as the subject of women playwrights. The plays Jesse and the bandit Queen by David Friedman, and Apple pie, by Myrna Lamb are profiled. Part two examines Papp's response to and work with Black and Hispanic writers, as exemplified by Neil Harris' play So nice they named it twice.

OCLC WorldCat record
The City So Nice They Named It Twice: How NYC is Fighting Climate Change
Author: The Climate Reality Project
Edition/Format: Downloadable article Downloadable article : English
Publication: Blog: Climate Reality, (2017-04-05T12:00:00.000Z)

Twitter
Sharon Disador 🦋
@castlekitten47
Replying to @NathanFillion
You’re in NY?! Super! New York New York so nice they named it twice! 🗽
5:38 PM - 14 May 2018