Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898

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Martha Washington Irving gave NY that nickname in his literary magazine Salmagundi in 1807. It means goat town and was the name of a perhaps fictional town i…moreWashington Irving gave NY that nickname in his literary magazine Salmagundi in 1807. It means goat town and was the name of a perhaps fictional town in old English legend whose inhabitants pretended to be stupid in order to trick rulers out of cheating or oppressing them. (less)

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