Nicknames of New York City – Wikipedia

The Big Apple: first used as a reference to the city’s prominence in horse racing by John J. Fitz Gerald during the 1920s but made popular by a 1970s advertisement campaign; The Capital of the World (Caput Mundi): popularized by the author E. B. White and by New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani; The Center of the Universe: particularly in reference to Times Square …

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicknames_of_New_York_City