List of city nicknames in New York

This partial list of city nicknames in New York compiles the aliases, sobriquets and slogans that cities in New York are known by (or have been known by historically), officially and unofficially, to locals, outsiders or their tourism boards. City nicknames can help in establishing a civic identity, helping outsiders recognize a community or attracting people to a community because of its nickname; promote civic pride; and build community unity.Muench, David [http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cced/economies/communityindicators/communityslogans.pdf "Wisconsin Community Slogans: Their Use and Local Impacts"] , December 1993, accessed April 10, 2007.] They are also believed to have economic value, but that economic value is difficult to measure.

Some of the nicknames are positive, while others are derisive. The unofficial nicknames listed here are those that have been used for such a long time or have gained so wide a currency that they have become well-known in their own right.

*Albany
**Tech Valley [ [http://www.techvalley.org/ Tech Valley Chamber Coalition] ]
*Amsterdam
**The Carpet City. [ [http://www.mvls.info/lhg/amsterdam/index.html The Amsterdam Free Library] , accessed April 5, 2007. "Amsterdam became known as "The Carpet City of the World."']
*Binghamton
**Parlor City. [ [http://www.wskg.com/ParlorCity.htm Binghamton: Building The Parlor City] , WSKG-TV, accessed April 5, 2007.]
**Carousel Capital of the World. [ [http://www.tier.net/users/gwrra/carohist.htm Carousel Capitol of the World] , accessed April 5, 2007.]
*Brooklyn (part of NYC)
**The Borough of Churches (originally City of Churches when a separate city from NYC). [Ryley, Sarah. [http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=26&id=13007 "Brooklyn Atlantic Yards:`Wrong Church, Wrong Pew,’ Says Manhattan Judge in Tenants’ Case"] , "Brooklyn Daily Eagle", May 18, 2007. Accessed June 13, 2007. "State Supreme Court Justice Walter Tolub ruled the action “was brought both in the wrong church and the wrong pew,” making reference to Brooklyn’s early reputation as the “City of Churches.” In a footnote, the judge cited an 1844 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle as the origin of that nickname."]
**The Borough of Trees. [http://www.brooklyn-usa.org/Pages/OIB/OIB_05/dec27_jan9.htm Brooklyn news updates for December 27 - January 9, 2005] , Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. Accessed June 13, 2007. "“This once again proves that in addition to being the Borough of Churches and the Borough of Trees, that Brooklyn is the Borough of Light during the holidays, and throughout the year,” said Marty."]
*Buffalo
**The City of Good Neighbors. [ [http://www.wgrz.com/news/specials/CityOfGoodNeighbors/CityOfGoodNeighbors_article.aspx?storyid=42492 Students Show Why We Are The City of Good Neighbors] , WGRZ, November 10, 2006.]
**The Nickel City [http://www.taglineguru.com/monikerlist.html U.S. City Monikers] website, accessed January 5, 2008]
**The Queen CityFact|date=March 2008 or The Queen City of the LakesBarry Popik, [http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/summary12/ Smoky City] , barrypopik.com website, March 27, 2005]
*Chazy, New York - The World Capital of MacIntosh Apples. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=travel&res=9F0CE6DC1430F931A2575AC0A965958260 The World Capital of Whatever] , "The New York Times" by Harold Faber, September 12, 1993.]
*Cooperstown - Birthplace of Baseball. [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1133138.html Hoboken Claims Honor As Baseball Birthplace] , "The Washington Post", June 20, 1990. "Gov. Jim Florio made a pitch to have Hoboken declared the birthplace of baseball, and he did it from the pitcher's mound at a site not far from where supporters say the first game was played, on the game's anniversary today."]
*Corinth - Snowshoe Capital of the World [http://www.epodunk.com/slogans/sports.html Claims to fame - Sports] ]
*Corning - The Crystal City. [ [http://www.10best.com/Corning/ Corning, New York] , accessed April 16, 2007. "Recognized as a world leader in glass-making – and dubbed "Crystal City" for its prominence – Corning boasts a heritage that dates to the 1860s."]
*Cortland - The Crown City. [ [http://www.cortland.org/community/history/history10.htm Local History] , accessed April 5, 2007. "Known as the "Crown City" because of its location on a plain formed by the convergence of seven valleys, Cortland is situated about 1,130 feet above sea level, making it the uppermost city to crown the state."]
*Elba - Onion Capital of the World. [http://www.epodunk.com/slogans/agriculture.html Claims to Fame - Agriculture] , Epodunk, accessed April 16, 2007.]
*Elmira - Soaring Capital of the World
*Florida - The Onion Capital of the World. [ [http://www.diamondologist.com/florida.htm Florida, New York] , accessed April 16, 2007. "Onion farming became the primary source of agricultural revenue, resulting in the area being known as "The Onion Capital of the World." Growing, packing, and distribution of this crop continues to be Florida's most important industry."]
*Fulton - City With a Future. [Motola, Chris. [http://www.oswegocountybusiness.com/index.php?a=1783 "Nestle and Sonoco Plants Expected to Resume Operation Under New Ownership"] , "Oswego County Business", December 10, 2003, accessed April 16, 2007. "Fulton may once again live up to its slogan, “ a city with a future.” New York State Gov. George Pataki arrived to unveil the good news at a press conference at the Fulton Municipal Building on Dec. 10 at 2PM."]
*Geneva - Lake Trout Capital of the World. [http://www.epodunk.com/slogans/fish.html Claims to Fame - Fish] , Epodunk, accessed April 16, 2007.]
*Granville - Slate Capital of the World. [http://www.epodunk.com/slogans/rocks.html Claims to Fame - Rocks] , Epodunk, accessed April 16, 2007.]
*Hammondsport - Cradle of Aviation. [ [http://www.earlyaviators.com/ecurtiss.htm Glenn Curtiss] , accessed April 16, 2007. "Here, in the picturesque village of Hammondsport, known locally as the "cradle of aviation," Glenn H. Curtiss, world famous aviation pioneer who died unespectedly in a Buffalo hospital, will b buried at 4 o'clock tomorrow afternoon."]
*Hurley (town), New York - Sweet Corn Capital of the World.
*Lockport - Lock City. [D'Onofrio, John. [http://www.niagara-gazette.com/sports/gnnsports_story_091232211.html "FOOTBALL: Semi-pro football returns to Lock City"] , "Niagara Gazette", April 1, 2007, accessed April 16, 2007.]
*Manhattan (part of NYC) - The City. [Purdum, Todd S. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEFDD113AF931A15751C0A964958260 " POLITICAL MEMO; An Embattled City Hall Moves to Brooklyn"] , "The New York Times", February 22, 1992. Accessed March 27, 2008. ""Leaders in all of them fear that recent changes in the City Charter that shifted power from the borough presidents to the City Council have diminished government's recognition of the sense of identity that leads people to say they live in the Bronx, and to describe visiting Manhattan as 'going to the city.'"]
*New Rochelle - Queen City of The Sound [Title=Nicknames and Sobriquets of U.S. Cities, States, and Counties|Publisher=Scarecrow Press, 1979|Author=Joseph Nathan Kane, Gerard L. Alexander|Page=340]
*New York City
**The Big Apple. [ [http://www.salwen.com/apple.html Why Is New York City Called "The Big Apple"?] , accessed April 16, 2007.]
**The Capital of The World. [Finn, Robin. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/08/nyregion/08lives.html?ref=nyregion "A Vigilant Eye on Threats to the ‘Capital of the World’"] , "The New York Times", June 8, 2007. Accessed June 13, 2007. "“What makes this the biggest challenge in all that we do as an agency is, well, as the late pope said, New York City is the capital of the world,” he says, leading the way into his spacious sanctum at 26 Federal Plaza."]
**The City So Nice, They Named It Twice. [Mullane, J.D. [http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/219-03252007-1319798.html "Trumping a New Yorker"] , "The Philadelphia Inquirer", March 25, 2007, accessed April 16, 2007. "“Here we go again,” I said. “New York, New York. The city so nice they named it twice, right?”"]
**The City That Never Sleeps. [ [http://www.brave.com/bo/lyrics/nyny.htm "New York, New York" Lyrics] , accessed April 16, 2007. "These vagabond shoes / Are longing to stray / And make a brand new start of it / New York, New York /I want to wake up in the city that never sleeps..."]
**Empire City. [ [http://www.metmuseum.org/special/se_event.asp?OccurrenceId=%7BA238C1C0-B848-11D3-936D-00902786BF44%7D Art and the Empire City: New York, 1825–1861] , Metropolitan Museum of Art, accessed April 16, 2007.]
**Gotham
*Niagara Falls - Cataract City. [Pfeiffer, Rick. [http://www.niagara-gazette.com/local/local_story_094235832.html "NIAGARA FALLS: Courthouse crumbles"] , "Niagara Gazette", April 4, 2007, accessed April 16, 2007. "You don’t have to look far to find structural faults — there is more police crime scene tape stretched around problem areas at the Public Safety Building then there is on Cataract City streets."]
*North Tonawanda - Lumber City. [ [http://www.buffalohistoryworks.com/tonawanda/tonawand.htm The Town of Tonawanda - History] , accessed April 16, 2007. "By the turn of the century Tonawanda and North Tonawanda, jointly known as "The Lumber City", was the largest lumber supply center in the world."]
*Ogdensburg
**The Maple City (19th century). [http://www.1000islands.com/ogdensburg/history/ History of Ogdensburg] , Thousand Islands. Accessed June 13, 2007. "Attracting people from far and wide, we became the "New York of the North." At that time the community was known as "the Maple City" and a city form of government was adopted on April 27, 1868."]
**The New York of the North (mid-19th century).
*Phelps - Sauerkraut Capital. [http://www.epodunk.com/slogans/food.html Claims to Fame - Food] , Epodunk, accessed April 16, 2007.]
*Plattsburgh
**Ville Sur Le Lac (Historical)Fact|date=March 2008
**The Lake City (Contemporary)Fact|date=March 2008
*Rhinebeck - Anemone Capital of the World.
*Rochester
**The Flour City. [http://www.visitrochester.com/static/index.cfm?contentID=38 Rochester FAQs] , Greater Rochester Visitors Association. Accessed June 13, 2007. "Rochester has been known as the "Young Lion of the West," the "Flour City," and the "Flower City." During the 1990s, Rochester was called "The World's Image Centre," a title stemming from its unique and impressive history in photography, xerography, and optics along with its leading role in manufacturing/research activities, and impressive educational resources in both traditional and evolving imaging sciences."] [http://www.vintageviews.org/vv-tl/timeline/flower.html Rochester's History] webpage; "1850–1899: Westward expansion has moved the focus of farming to the Great Plains. Rochester's importance as the center for flour milling has declined. Several seed companies in Rochester have grown to become the largest in the world. Rochester's nickname is changed from the Flour City to the Flower City."]
**The Flower City. [ [http://www.history.rochester.edu/flowercity/ The Flower City: Center of Nurseries and Fruit Orchards] by Blake McKelvey, University of Rochester website; tells of the "almost world-wide fame that once redounded to the Flower City" during the latter half of the 19th century.]
**Ra-Cha-Cha
**Snapshot City
**Young Lion of the West.
**The World's Image Centre.
*Roscoe - Trout Town USA.
*Saratoga Springs - The Spa City. [Mokhiber, Jessica. [http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/your_news/saratoga/?SecID=231&ArID=205444 "Spa City celebrates Mardi Gras with sister city"] , Capital News 9, February 18, 2007. Accessed June 13, 2007. "Waveland, Mississippi and Saratoga are hundreds of miles from each other but they are connected by a special bond. After hurricane Katrina they became sister cities. This weekend people from Waveland helped the Spa City celebrate its very first Mardi Gras."]
*Schenectady
**Electric City. [http://www.epodunk.com/slogans/energy.html Claims to Fame - Energy] , Epodunk, accessed April 16, 2007.]
**The City That Lights And Hauls The World. [Roane, Kit R. [http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070107/15upstate.htm "The Forgotten New York"] , "U.S. News & World Report", January 7, 2007. Accessed June 13, 2007. "Back in the 1950s, maybe. But the song, adopted by the city in 1995, expresses more hope than reality these days. Once known as "the city that lights and hauls the world," Schenectady has become a dim bulb and the first stop in a long, bleak road that runs through much of upstate New York, a countryside pockmarked with a series of eerie industrial relics and shuttered mill towns."]
*Troy - The Collar City [Faber, Harold [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE2DC123BF931A15752C0A96F948260 "THE TALK OF TROY; 'The Collar City' Is Loosening Its Ties to the Past"] January 22, 1989 "Troy is still known as 'the collar city.'"]
*Westfield - Grape Juice Capital of the World.
*Yonkers
**The Terrace CityFact|date=July 2008
**JunkersFact|date=December 2007
**Yonk-a-tonkFact|date=December 2007

ee also

*List of city nicknames in the United States
*List of places in New York
*List of cities in New York
*List of towns in New York
*List of villages in New YorkNew York City - The World's Second Home.

References

External links

* [http://got.net/~landauer/lists/CityOf.html a list] of American and a few Canadian nicknames
* [http://www.usacitiesonline.com/mottos.htm U.S. cities list]