Why is NYC Called the Big Apple?
In the 1920s, a sportswriter for the Morning Telegraph named John Fitzgerald overheard stablehands in New Orleans refer to NYC's racetracks as "the Big Apple." He named his column "Around the Big Apple." A decade later, jazz musicians adopted the term to refer to New York City, and especially Harlem, as the jazz capital of the world. There are many apples on the trees of success, they were saying, but when you pick New York City, you pick the big apple.

The Bronx: How Swede It is
The Bronx was settled in 1639 and is named for the Swedish settler Jonas Bronck. There are more than 60 landmarks and historic districts in the Bronx, including the Edgar Allen Poe Cottage on the Grand Concourse and the stately Van Cortland House Museum in Van Cortlandt Park.

Why Cabs Are Yellow
John Hertz, who founded the Yellow Cab Company in 1907, chose yellow because he had read a study conducted by the University of Chicago that indicated it was the easiest color to spot.

Where the Famous Go to Rest
Green-Wood Cemetery, in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park, is one of the world’s most beautiful cemeteries. With a spectacular harbor view and 478 acres filled with trees and flowering shrubs, Green-Wood is the eternal resting place of a who’s who of famous folks, including Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Morse, F.A.O Schwartz, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Charles Tiffany, and "Boss" Tweed.

Looking for Main Street?
You won’t find it in Manhattan. There is, however, a Main Street in each of the other boroughs and on Roosevelt Island.

A City of Islands
Manhattan and Staten Island are islands; Queens and Brooklyn are on the western tip of Long Island. So, of New York City’s five boroughs, only the Bronx is part of the mainland. However, there is an island that ‘s part of the Bronx and yet feels like a New England fishing village: City Island, a marine-related community offering fishing, boating, and a wide range of restaurants and snack bars.

Statue of Liberty Stats
The Lady in the Harbor is 101 feet tall from base to torch, 305 feet tall from pedestal foundation to torch. She has a 35-foot waist and an 8-foot index finger, and she weighs 450,000 pounds.

Did you know…?
There are 6,374.6 miles of streets in New York City.

Broadway's Original Name was the Wiechquaekeck Trail. It was an old Algonquin trade route.