“The Big Apple: Destination New York” (NBC-TV documentary, 1966)

WNBC-TV in New York City aired a special called “The Big Apple: Destination New York” on April 25, 1966. The special, narrated by Art James (1929-2004), covered five people seeking their career dreams in New York City (“The Big Apple”).
 
An NBC special also called “The Big Apple” aired on February 12, 1967 and was narrated by Edwin Newman (1919-2010). This is possibly the same program, with a different narrator.
 
This use of “Big Apple” for New York City was somewhat rare in the 1960s. “Big Apple” would be popularized in the 1970s with tourism campaigns.
 
 
Newspapers.com
18 April 1966, Daily News (New York, NY), “around the Dials” by Matt Messina, pg. 26, col. 4:
WNBC-TV blacks out the network screening of a Run for Your Life episode next Monday at 10 P.M. in order to present a special, “The Big Apple: Destination New York.” The program focuses on people who have left their home towns to try for the big brass ring in our town. Art James is the narrator.
 
Newspapers.com
21 April 1966, Newsday (Hempstead, NY), pg. 5C, col. 4:
Ch. 4 had a one-hour special Monday at 10 PM called “The Big Apple: Destination New York,” depicting five hopefuls who come to Manhattan in search of career success.
 
Newspapers.com
24 April 1966, Staten Island (NY) Sunday Advance, “Evening Programs,” pg. TV4, col. 2:
4 SPECIAL—“The Big Apple: Destination New York.” Newcomers to New York seeking success; closeup of an opera singer, a musician, prizefighter, fashion designer. (Color, 1 hr.)
 
Newspapers.com
25 April 1966, Daily News (New York, NY), pg. 58, col. 3 ad:
THE MECCA
FOR DREAMS.
THAT’S NEW YORK
—THE BIG APPLE.
If you have a dream you come to The Big Apple—the biggest, brightest, busiest town in the world. New York is where it happens, and where you make it happen. You’ll see our dream mecca through the eyes of a singer, a boxer, a fashion designer, a jazz musician and an engineer: five hopefuls who come to take a bite of success from The Big Apple. Art James narrates this hour-long color special, from the producers of “Head For The Hills” and “Hollywood On The Hudson.”
THE BIG APPLE:
DESTINATION NEW YORK
10pm MONDAY IN COLOR
WNBC-TV 4
 
Newspapers.com
25 April 1966, Asbury Park (NJ) Evening Press, “Television,” pg. 9, col. 3:
SPECIAL—“The Big Apple: Destination New York.” Even the veteran New Yorker who takes his city for granted, will become involved with portions of this slight, but colorful documentary about the lure of the city to the tourists and the ambitious. Scenes of tourists asking questions, skimpy as they are, manage to be breathless and fun. But the camera profiles of five young hopefuls (a young heavyweight, an English fashion editor, an opera singer, a tenor sax, and a businessman) who come to New York, the mecca of their dreams, are visually attractive but superficial in the extreme. (Color), 10 p.m. Ch. 4, 3.
 
Newspapers.com
12 February 1967, Daily News (New York, NY), “Complete Sunday TV Programs,” pg. S33, col. 3:
4 “THE BIG APPLE”; EDWIN NEWMAN, narrator. Close up of people who come to New York (Color-Special).