Time for a stroll around New York City......
bring a sweater, there's a chill in the air.
It's Fall.
It's New York....they just go together.
Why is New York City called "The Big Apple?"
Morning Telegraph reporter, John J. Fitz Gerald, first made common use of the term during the 1920s in reference to the city's racetracks. He apparently first heard it used by African American stable hands in New Orleans in 1921. The term was popularized among African American jazz musicians in the 1930s, who regarded New York, and particularly Harlem, as the capital city of jazz. It's modern use derives largely from a publicity campaign developed in 1971 by the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau.
New York City is the largest city in the United States. It is located in the southern part of New York State, at the mouth of the Hudson River (also known as North River as it passes Manhattan Island).
In 1609, Henry Hudson, who worked for the Dutch East India Company, sailed up the river that now bears his name and went as far as Albany. Five years later, a permanent settlement was established at what is now New York, but it was originally called New Amsterdam by the Dutch governors. One of them, Peter Minuit, was said to have bought Manhattan Island from the Indians in exchange for beads, buttons, and trinkets. In 1664, Great Britain's Duke of York sent a fleet that quietly seized the settlement from the Dutch without bloodshed and rechristened the colony in honor of the duke.
Control of New York passed to the young U.S. at the end of the Revolutionary War, and George Washington was inaugurated president in New York's old City Hall. Congress met in New York from 1785 to 1790.
In 1898, when Greater New York was chartered, the city expanded to include the following five boroughs, which are also counties in New York State: Manhattan (New York County); Brooklyn (Kings County); Bronx (Bronx County); Queens (Queens County); and Staten Island (Richmond County).
“The Big Apple” is a major world capital and a world leader in finance, the arts, and communications. The port of New York is one of the finest in the world and ranks as the largest port complex on the East Coast. The city is the home of the United Nations and is headquarters for some of the world's largest corporations. The city is also the center of advertising, fashion, publishing, and radio broadcasting in the United States.
The city suffered incredible devastation in Sept. 2001, when terrorist hijackers crashed two commercial jets into the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, causing the complete destruction of the twin towers and major loss of life.
I may not be a native New Yorker but I couldn't be prouder of the people of this city if I was. So what if I can't get a seat on the subway in the morning, it just means that more people are back to work.
So what if penny candy cost a quarter and water cost a dollar, you can still get the "Recession Special" for lunch, two hot dogs and a Papaya drink for $1.95 at the famous Gray's Papaya stand.....
God Bless New York City!




Here are the words to "Sidewalks of New York"

Words and Music By: Chas. B. Lawlor and James W. Blake

Down in front of Casey's

Old brown wooden stoop,
On a summer's evening,
We formed a merry group;
Boys and girls together,
We would sing and waltz,
While the "ginnie" played the organ
On the Sidewalks of New York.
East side, west side,
All around the town,
The tots sang "Ring-a-Rosie,"
"London Bridge is Falling Down."
Boys and girls together,
Me and Mamie O'Rourke,
Tripped the light fantastic,
On the sidewalks of New York.

That's where Johnny Casey

And little Jimmy Crowe,
With Jakey Krause the baker,
Who always had the dough;
Pretty Nellie Shannon,
With a dude as light as cork,
First picked up the waltzstep
On the Sidewalks of New York.
East side, west side,
All around the town,
The tots sang "Ring-a-Rosie,"
"London Bridge is Falling Down."
Boys and girls together,
Me and Mamie O'Rourke,
Tripped the light fantastic,
On the sidewalks of New York.

Things have changed since those times,

Some are up in "G,"
Others, they are wand'rers,
But they all feel just like me;
They'd part with all they've got,
Could they but once more walk,
With their best girl and have a twirl
On the Sidewalks of New York.
East side, west side,
All around the town,
The tots sang "Ring-a-Rosie,"
"London Bridge is Falling Down."
Boys and girls together,
Me and Mamie O'Rourke,
Tripped the light fantastic,
On the sidewalks of New York.



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