"New Yorkistan" is the title of the cover art for the December 10, 2001 edition of The New Yorker magazine. Inspired by a conversation while driving through the Bronx, [1] it was created by Maira Kalman and Rick Meyerowitz [2] [3] who did the actual painting, and is (according to the American Society of Magazine Editors) #14 on the list of the top 40 magazine covers of the past 40 years. [4] It depicts the boroughs of New York City, as well as individual neighborhoods within the city, giving each a humorous name (a "funny mixture of Yiddish, Persian, and New Yorkisms" [5] ) based on the history or geography of that area of the city, while playfully using names or suffixes common in the Middle East and Central Asia, such as "-stan". Thus the title, "New Yorkistan".
The cover gained unexpected popularity, with the New Yorker making approximately $400,000 by February 2002 by selling copies of the picture as signed lithographs (all 750 copies of which sold out within 4 days) and unsigned posters. [6] [7]
According to Kalman, the inspiration for the cover arose in a car on the way to a party. She and Meyerowitz were talking about tribalism. At one point she came up with the idea of "Bronxistan", to which Meyerowitz replied "You know, we've got a map here." [2] Originally, the picture was to be run on the back page of the magazine, but editors liked it so much that it was decided to make it the cover picture. [3] [8]
Susan Jarratt describes the cover as "lampooning both New Yorkers' city-bound geographic consciousness and a nationwide ignorance of the geography of Central Asia". Jarratt notes that it was one of the first "humorous interventions" since the events of September 11, 2001. [9] Urschel notes that this timing of the cover's publication was fortunate. Kalman herself commented on the timing, saying that "if [the cover had come] out earlier, many would have been infuriated, and if it [had come] out later, no one would have cared." [8]
In September, 2004, Meyerowitz and Kalman made a New York City Subway map as a food map, the New York City Sub-Culinary Map, for The New Yorker. [10]
The places depicted, with their explanations (according to the artists or to commentators), are as follows:
Brooklyn is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behind New York County (Manhattan). Brooklyn is also New York City's most populous borough, with 2,736,074 residents in 2020.
An egg cream is a cold beverage consisting of milk, carbonated water, and flavored syrup, as a substitute for an ice cream float. Despite the name, the drink contains neither eggs nor cream.
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The Brooklyn Eagle was an afternoon daily newspaper published in the city and later borough of Brooklyn, in New York City, for 114 years from 1841 to 1955. At one point, it was the afternoon paper with the largest daily circulation in the United States. Walt Whitman, the 19th-century poet, was its editor for two years. Other notable editors of the Eagle included Democratic Party political figure Thomas Kinsella, seminal folklorist Charles Montgomery Skinner, St. Clair McKelway, Arthur M. Howe and Cleveland Rodgers.
New York City Subway nomenclature is the terminology used in the New York City Subway system as derived from railroading practice, historical origins of the system, and engineering, publicity, and legal usage. Important terms include lines, or individual sections of subway, like the BMT Brighton Line; services, like the B, which is a single train route along several lines; and stations, such as Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue, which connects multiple lines and services.
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The geography of New York City is characterized by its coastal position at the meeting of the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean in a naturally sheltered harbor. The city's geography, with its scarce availability of land, is a contributing factor in making New York the most densely populated major city in the United States. Environmental issues are chiefly concerned with managing this density, which also explains why New York is among the most energy-efficient and least automobile-dependent cities in the United States. The city's climate is temperate.
Rick Meyerowitz is an American artist, and author. He is best known for his work for National Lampoon magazine and its spin-offs, including his poster for the comedy film Animal House.
New York City, the most populous city in the United States, is composed of five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of New York State. The boroughs of Queens and the Bronx are also Queens County and Bronx County. The other three counties are named differently from their boroughs: Manhattan is New York County, Brooklyn is Kings County, and Staten Island is Richmond County.
Maira Kalman is an American artist, illustrator, writer, and designer known for her painting and writing about the human condition. She is the author and illustrator of over 30 books for adults and children and her work is exhibited in museums around the world. She has been a regular contributor to The New York Times and The New Yorker.
The West Bronx is a region in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The region lies west of the Bronx River and roughly corresponds to the western half of the borough.
New York City has the largest population of Italian Americans in the United States of America as well as North America, many of whom inhabit ethnic enclaves in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. New York is home to the third largest Italian population outside of Italy, behind Buenos Aires, Argentina (first) and São Paulo, Brazil (second). Over 2.6 million Italians and Italian-Americans live in the greater New York metro area, with about 800,000 living within one of the five New York City boroughs. This makes Italian Americans the largest ethnic group in the New York metro area.
The 1924 United States presidential election in New York took place on November 4, 1924. All contemporary 48 states were part of the 1924 United States presidential election. Voters chose 45 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon is a 2015 American documentary film directed by Douglas Tirola. The film is about National Lampoon magazine, and how the magazine and its empire of spin-offs changed the course of comedy and humor.
The City We Became is a 2020 urban fantasy novel by N. K. Jemisin. It was developed from her short story "The City Born Great," first published in her collection How Long 'til Black Future Month? It is her first novel since her triple Hugo Award-winning Broken Earth series and the first in her Great Cities series, followed by The World We Make, released in November 2022