During its four-century history,New York City has been known by a variety of alternative names and euphemisms, both officially and unofficially. Frequently shortened to simply "New York", "NY", or "NYC", New York City is also known as "The City" in some parts of theEastern United States, in particular, theState of New York and surrounding U.S. states.^[1] New Yorkers also use "The City" to refer specifically to theborough ofManhattan.^[2]

• The Big Apple – first published as a euphemism for New York City in 1921 by sportswriterJohn J. Fitz Gerald, who claimed he had heard it used the year prior by two stable hands at the New Orleans Fair Grounds because of the large prizes available athorse races in New York.^[3] Later made popular by a 1970s advertisement campaign.^[4][5]
• The Capital of the World – made popular in its application to New York by the authorE. B. White in his 1948 essayHere is New York, written as construction of theUnited Nations headquarters began that year.^[6][7] Derived in turn from the Roman poetLucan who first mocked his city ofRome as "Caput Mundi" in the year 61 in his workPharsalia because of how easily it had fallen to generals the previous century.^[8] Also used with adjectives such as "The Food Capital of the World" or "The Gay Capital of the World", in reference to New York City's outsized influence upon specific cultures.^[9][10]
• The Center of the Universe – used repeatedly by New York City mayorRobert F. Wagner Jr. during his terms from 1954 to 1965,^[11][12] it is also commonly applied toTimes Square specifically,^[4][13][14] and similarly used with adjectives such as the "Theatrical Center of the Universe" or "Economic Center of the Universe"^[15]
• The City So Nice They Named It Twice – a reference to "New York, New York" as both the city and state, spoken byJon Hendricks in 1959 on a jazz cover ofLorenz Hart andRichard Rodgers' song "Manhattan" onGeorge Russell's albumNew York, N.Y.,^[16] and popularized by New York-basedlate night talk show hostDavid Letterman, who also used the phrase "the town so nice, they named it twice."^[17]
• The City That Never Sleeps – first recorded in full in newspaper articles in the early 1900s, including in 1907 inPhoenix, Arizona in reference to New York's evening mail delivery and in 1912 inFort Wayne, Indiana about New York's new electric and gas lighting,^[18] though also recorded in similar forms in reference to the nightlife in neighborhoods like the Bowery as early as 1892 and likely in use during the 1880s.^[19][20] Made popular byJohn Kander and Fred Ebb's song "New York, New York" from theMartin Scorsese 1977film of the same name and the 1980 cover of that song performed byFrank Sinatra.^[21]
• The Empire City – derived fromGeorge Washington in the alleged quote "Surely this is the seat of the empire!" though first published in an 1836 newspaper as "the Empire City of the New World";^[18] also in reference to New York City's status as the most populous city in theState of New York,^[22] whose primary nickname isTheEmpire State.
• The Five Boroughs – a reference to the counties thatconsolidated into New York City in 1898, and often used to distinguish thecity proper fromManhattan alone or theNew York metropolitan area^[23]
• Gotham – first used byWashington Irving in his satirical periodicalSalmagundi in November 1807 as an allusion to the tale of theWise Men of Gotham, and made popular asGotham City, the location ofBatman comics, first specified in December 1940'sBatman #4, written byBill Finger^[24]
• The Greatest City in the World – reflective of the city's overall global prominence,^[25][26] and popularized by the song "The Schuyler Sisters" fromLin-Manuel Miranda's 2015 musicalHamilton^[27]
• The Melting Pot – a reference to the wide variety of ethnicities and language groups in the city, and popularized by various authors including playwrightIsrael Zangwill in his 1908 playThe Melting Pot
• Metropolis – popularized asthe location ofSuperman comics, first specified in September 1939'sAction Comics #16, written byJerry Siegel andJoe Shuster, and itself an allusion to the setting of theFritz Lang filmMetropolis (1927)^[28]

• America's City – a term positioning New York City as emblematic of the country post9/11, as its premiermetropolis^[29][30][31]
• Fear City – This nickname was created by the NYPD's largest police union, who used the term in response to city budget cutbacks during the 1970s. It was also a play on the earlier New York City nickname "Fun City".^[32][33]
• Fun City – taken from a phrase in 1966 uttered by then mayorJohn Lindsay in response to being asked if he still liked being mayor during a crippling transit strike.^[34][22]
• The ModernGomorrah – referring to the "sinfulness" and organized crime ofManhattan, first popularized by ReverendThomas De Witt Talmage in 1875 at theBrooklyn Tabernacle^[18]

Names by which the parts of New York City inLower Manhattan were officially deemed during the 17th century included:

• New Amsterdam – the original name of theDutch colony from 1624 until 1665, when theEnglish captured and renamed the colony during theSecond Anglo-Dutch War. Derived fromFort Amsterdam, and though the colony's administration at the time simply used the name "Amsterdam" for the village north of the fort, the inclusion of "Nieuw" was popularized in the 1650s byAdriaen van der Donck in his pamphlets advertising the colony to potential settlers.^[35]
• New Orange – the name given to the city during the brief period of 1673-1674 when the Dutch regained control of the city after theThird Anglo-Dutch War^[36] and then bargained it away in theTreaty of Westminster

• Nicknames of Boston
• Nicknames of Philadelphia

• Lists of nicknames by city
• Culture of New York City
• New York City-related lists
• Symbols of New York City

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