There is many rumors why NYC is named “The Big Apple” for a long period, but research over the past two decades, primarily by amateur etymologist Barry Popik and Gerald Cohen of Missouri University of Science and Technology, has provided a relatively clear picture of the term’s history.
Auswandern
The Big Apple was popularized being a mention of the New York City by John J. Fitz Gerald in a number of New York Morning Telegraph articles inside the 1920s in mention of The big apple horse-racing.
It’s said that the winning horse got an extra ny following your race… so that all the horses would get the Ny.
Funny, isn’t it?!