Big Apple
"The Big Apple" was popularized as a name for New York City by John J. Fitz Gerald in a number of horse-racing articles for the "New York Morning Telegraph" in the 1920s. The earliest of these was a casual reference on 3rd May, 1921:
Super Bowl XLII
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, witnessing the first New York sports team championship victory as mayor, praised the hometown team's upset victory, saying; "New York has come back many times in the past, and Big Blue proved tonight that you should never, ever, count us out." Many New Yorkers polled the Giants' win to be among the most satisfying championship victories in New York sports history. There were also a series of firsts with the championship, not just for the Giants, but also for the city of New York and the New York metropolitan area. Those firsts were:On the following Tuesday, February 5, New York City hosted for the Giants a ticker tape parade up Broadway in Lower Manhattan. It was the first along the famed "Canyon of Heroes" since the New York Yankees won the 2000 World Series, and the Giants' first parade in New York. (Because of acrimonious relations at that time between New York City and the state of New Jersey, the team chose not to participate in a Manhattan parade for its Super Bowl XXI championship in 1987, but instead held a "Victory Rally" at Giants Stadium in The Meadowlands. After their Super Bowl XXV championship in 1991, then-owner Wellington Mara chose not to hold any celebrations due to the Gulf War.) After six years in office, Bloomberg became the 14th consecutive mayor of New York City to preside over a ticker-tape parade. (In contrast, his predecessor, Rudy Giuliani presided over his first ticker-tape parade just five months after becoming mayor, after the Rangers won the Stanley Cup) Also attending were New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and Senator Chuck Schumer. Spitzer also announced the availability of a New York Giants Super Bowl XLII Champions custom license plate and issued a proclamation declaring the day "New York Giants Super Bowl Champions Day" throughout the state of New York.