<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Some of this article's listed sources may not be reliable . Please help this article by looking for better, more reliable sources . Unreliable citations may be challenged or deleted . (May 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> Some of this article's listed sources may not be reliable . Please help this article by looking for better, more reliable sources . Unreliable citations may be challenged or deleted . (May 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> "Big Apple" is a nickname for New York City . It was first popularized in the 1920s by John J. Fitz Gerald, a sports writer for the New York Morning Telegraph . Its popularity since the 1970s is due in part to a promotional campaign by the New York tourist authorities . </P> <P> Although the history of Big Apple was once thought a mystery, a clearer picture of the term's history has emerged due to the work of amateur etymologist Barry Popik, and Gerald Cohen of Missouri University of Science and Technology . A number of false theories had previously existed, including a claim that the term derived from a woman named Eve who ran a brothel in the city . This was subsequently exposed as a hoax . </P>

When did they start calling new york the big apple