Trivia: Where did New York City get its “Big Apple” nickname from?
A Broadway musical
The city’s orchard farmers
A horse-racing term
A popular restaurant
The correct answer is A horse-racing term
So why is this answer correct? : New York City’s now-ubiquitous nickname is often credited to 1920s sports journalist John J. Fitz Gerald. In horse-racing terms, a Big Apple referred to major prize money that was available at larger races, and the biggest horse races at that time were in New York City. Fitz Gerald heard two stablehands use the term to describe the city itself, and he adopted and popularized it in his column.