Museum Mile
"Museum Mile" along Fifth Avenue contains the following: El Museo del Barrio at 104th Street Museum of the City of New York at 103rd Street International Center of Photography at 94th…
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“Wise Men Fish Here” (Gotham Book Mart)
The Gotham Book Mart opened in 1920 at 128 West 45th Street and moved in 1923 to 41 West 47th Street. It has recently moved again, to 16 East 46th Street. "Wise Men Fish Here" is its…
Sugar Hill
Most people know this from the "Sugar Hill Gang." "Sugar Hill" is the African-American area around Harlem where life is sweet. Wikipedia: Sugar Hill, ManhattanSugar Hill is a…
Pizzeria
Lombardi's on Spring Street claims to be the first pizzeria (1905) in the western hemisphere. The problem here is the the telephone directories that I checked list Lombardi's as a…
“Brooklyn is the bedroom of New York”
"Brooklyn is the bedroom of New York" means that people may work in Manhattan, but they live in Brooklyn. Perhaps Walt Whitman coined this. Brooklyn has also been called the…
Little Syria
"Little Syria" was located on Washington Street in lower Manhattan. That neighborhood was destroyed in the 1960s to build the World Trade Center. There was also a "Little Syria"…
Little Hungary
"Little Hungary" is part of what is now the "East Village." The term is not used any more, but "Little Hungary" was probably one of the earliest "Little"…
Little Colombia (Chapinero or Chapinerito)
"Little Colombia" is Jackson Heights, Queens. The restaurant bearing this name probably helped. "Chapinero" is a desirable area of Bogota, Colombia. "Little Colombia"…
Bag Lady
Lily Tomlin got the character of the "bag lady" exactly right. Her performance should be available on video somewhere. The Historical Dictionary of American Slang has: "Orig. N.Y.C.…
“Going to the city” (Manhattan)
People from Brooklyn and Queens are often said to be going to "the city" when they go into Manhattan. New York City has five boroughs. Each borough is part of "the city." The…
Diamond District (Diamond & Jewelry Way)
In 1982, 47th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues was designated "Diamond & Jewelry Way." Diamond and jewelry stores started moving to 47th Street just after World War II. All those…
Newsradio; “Give us 22 minutes, we’ll give you the world”
WINS and WCBS were two of the very first "all news" radio stations in the country. WCBS has used the word "newsradio." WINS has promised "You give us 22 minutes, we'll…
Fashion Avenue; Fashion Capital of the World
"Fashion Avenue" is now often used instead of "Garment Center" or "Fashion Center." The "Fashion Avenue" street name was born with the "Fashion Capital…
5th Avenue (candy bar)
"5th Avenue" is the mystery candy bar. As the web discussions that follow describe it, the "5th Avenue" candy bar seems like it's been around forever, but no one seems to…
Sayre’s Law: Mayors of NY come from nowhere and go nowhere
Rudy Giuliani is going to hate me for this one, but I didn't make it up. Autumn 1977, PS, vol. 10, no. 4, pg. 511:Perhaps this is the time to record publicly two more of Wallace Sayre's…
Oreo
Did you ever walk by that National Biscuit Company building on the lower west side of Manhattan? Did you know that, since 2002, there's been an "Oreo Way"? As one web site tells it:…
Garment Center (Garment District; Fashion Center; Fashion District)
New York City has a Garment Center (also known as the Garment District, Fashion Center and Fashion District). The unofficially defined neighborhood is in Manhattan, between Fifth Avenue and Ninth…
Wilding (“Central Park Jogger” incident)
In April 1989, a woman was assaulted and raped while she was jogging in Central Park. The press quickly referred to the victim as the "Central Park Jogger" and to the incident with a new…
Gypsy Robe (Legacy Robe)
The "gypsy robe" is a Broadway musical tradition that has nothing to do with the famous musical Gypsy (1959). The robe (a negligee) originally began with the musical Gentlemen Prefer…
Gypsy Cab
The Historical Dictionary of American Slang, A-G has citations for "gypsy," meaning an independent migratory trucker, from 1953 and 1960. A "gypsy cab" is an unlicensed taxi.…