The Big Apple - why?

[robgordon]

I was just wondering why New York is nicknamed the 'Big Apple' ?

[Cetti]

Rob, as it's rather a long explanation I'll give you the site: http://www.mcny.org/answers.htm#bigapple

[Kit]

Take your pick! It's either after a house of ill repute in the early 1800s: http://salwen.com/apple.html OR from 1909, NY thought of as the fruit of a tree whose roots spread all over America OR a line from a horse-racing columnist in the 1920s http://www.mcny.org/answers.htm#bigapple OR a slang term used by 1930s jazzmen http://www.africana.com/Facts/bl_fact_122.htm.... Bottom line is, nobody really knows for sure.