SAY WHAT?? 😲 - THE CURIOUS BITS of NYC 💡
This is Part 2 (the fun part) of our post on the WHOs & WHATs of knowing your audience. Recently, we did a little research into one of our favorite audiences, #NewYorkCity. We uncovered some doozies!!
🍎 • The island of Manhattan, originally colonized by the Dutch, who purchased this roughly 300 sq. mile patch of land for approx. $1000 in today’s money. It is now home to more billionaires than any other city in the world and was the 1st capital of the United States.
🍎 • Ironically, NYC’s nickname, “The Big Apple” comes from the south! It was a reference coined in the #1920s by a New York newspaper reporter who covered horse-racing (an extremely popular sport at the time). Only by sheer coincidence, while on location at a race in #NewOrleans, he overheard some of the Louisiana stablehands mention they were planning a trip “to visit the ‘Big Apple’.” This struck the reporter who in turn, starting using the nickname in his news column. In the #1930s, during the huge jazz craze (which btw, is also rooted from the south), the term was widely used by NYC’s popular jazz musicians who promoted “The Big Apple” as being #1 spot for the “big-time” music venues.
🍎 • If, by some miracle, you find yourself in #TimesSquare on a QUIET day, take stroll down the sidewalk between 45th & 46th St. The sound coming from the subway grates is ACTUALLY an art sound #installation by #MaxNeuhaus which was placed in the underground station back in 1977!
🍎 • NYC has a deeply rooted #American #heritage & was a primary meeting place for our #FoundingFathers. The largest battle of the American Revolution was fought where #Brooklyn stands today.
🍎 • AND, on display at the historic #FrancesTavern downtown, is George Washington’s last-remaining TOOTH! Haha!!!
🍎 • The #WaldorfAstoria, one of the world’s 1st luxury hotels, was invented in New York City. AND furthermore, the #Waldorf is responsible for creating the original idea of “the velvet rope” and its associated VIP connotation.
🍎 • NYC was the very 1st city in America to create a landscaped park. Thanks to a group of NYC’s social elite who lobbied for its establishment, the park was approved by the city in 1857, and today is our beloved #CentralPark.
🍎 • Washington Square Park has a haunted memory of the past. When the yellow fever epidemic came along in the late 1700s, it claimed thousands of lives. In order to dispose of such an enormous number of bodies at one time, city officials had to find a plot of land large enough to hold them all. Right now, lying underneath where Washington Square Park stands today, are the corpses of at least 20,000 buried souls who perished from yellow fever in 1797......YA.
And lastly, on a quirkier note,
🍎 • In 1897, the NYC Post Office decided to enhance their services by implementing a new automated form of technology, thus providing their customers with an additional option for the delivering & receiving packages. Basically, this new distribution system would send your postal items out via a tube-delivery system. This operation last from 1897 to 1953, and its very first delivery - was a cat.
#VividInsights #TheInsideScoop #NYC #FunFacts
