The same way New Yorkers call their city The Big Apple, many people refer to Hoboken as the “Mile-Square City” or “Mile Square City”. Despite the fact that the city covers 1.27 square miles on land (close to 2 if you count the water), the nickname has stuck through the years and made it into the appellations of local businesses, a bar, and a theater company.
History tells us the name Hoboken was conferred by Colonel John Stevens when he purchased the waterfront land, and it originates from the Native Americans who lived here (who called it Hopoghan Hackingh).
History buffs interviewed last week couldn’t pinpoint exactly when the city’s nickname originated.
Hoboken Municipal Clerk James Farina, who has worked for the city for over 40 years, remembers the city being called that in his youth. But flipping through a copy of the now-defunct Hudson Dispatch newspaper’s 1855-1955 centennial issue, he couldn’t find a reference to it.
“If it was official, it’d be in here,” he said.
“As far as I could remember, it has always been unofficial.” – Jimmy Farina
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The Hoboken Public Library had results from the turn of the century. History librarian Kerry Weinstein found a reference to the “mile square city” [sic] in the March 1903 edition of The Evening Journal (now The Jersey Journal).
None of the current welcome signs tout the nickname – instead making reference to the city’s establishment in 1855 and birthplace of baseball and Frank Sinatra – but that’s about to change.
An array of new signage is on its way to First Street in June as part of the “First Street Revitalization and Citywide Branding & Way Finding Project” approved by the county Board of Freeholders in 2014 and paid for by city funds and a state grant.
Five “ornamental poles” will be placed in the various entryways to the city, such as Newark and Grove Streets, as well as 15th Street and Willow Avenue, saying The Mile Square City.
Science of a pseudonym
Popular nicknames for cities vary in origin. New Brunswick is known as the “Healthcare City” or the “Hub City” for its numerous hospitals, according to the Home News Tribune. The daily proclaimed in the 1990s, “With two major hospitals and a medical school, New Brunswick proclaims itself ‘The Healthcare City.’”
Newark has been called the “Brick City” by various media outlets due to the brick-made housing projects that make up its skyline.
And what of the Big Apple? John J. Fitz Gerald, a sports columnist, popularized the moniker when referencing the city’s horse racing scene in the 1920s in the Morning Telegraph, according to the New York Public Library. He reportedly heard the reference from New Orleans stable hands referring to New York City’s big-time racetrack venues. Library archives say during the Roaring ’20s the term “big apple” meant betting on a sure thing.
The nickname later gained status in the 1970s from tourism companies looking to polish the city’s image. Published in 1941, Gerald Leonard Cohen’s Origin of New York City’s nickname “The Big Apple explains that in the 19th century apples were linked to a “special type of desirability.”
Farina said he doesn’t recall the nickname “Mile Square City” being passed via resolution by the City Council.
“As far as I could remember, it has always been unofficial,” he said.
The city’s upcoming plans to rebrand are an attempt to reinforce the city’s history. City Spokesman Juan Melli said the administration didn’t simply land on the “Mile Square City” (spelled without hyphen). They engaged the public with two surveys, three public meetings, 25 stakeholder interviews, and 55 focus groups, in order to land on a tagline.
Other suggestions: Making History; Hoboken: A Way of Life; Always a Pleasure, and Your Home Base.
“We arrived at The Mile Square City through extensive community input,” Mayor Dawn Zimmer told The Hoboken Reporter. “Different ideas were put forward, and in the end it was very clear that The Mile Square City had, by far, the strongest community support. In addition to already being a well-established tagline that has been used by the community for many years, I think The Mile Square City is great because it alludes to the fact that we are a compact, walkable, urban community.”
Grammar issues
Whether it should be the Mile Square City or Mile-Square City is up for debate.
Oxford Dictionaries and GrammarBook.com state that one must hyphenate two or more words when they come before a noun and modify it as a single idea. Examples include foot-long sandwich, off-campus apartment, and state-of-the-art design.
Melli said the city did not include the hyphen since as a nickname, it is a proper noun, and historically the phrase has not included it.
Locals (and others) weigh in
Perhaps the biggest gripe with the nickname is that it’s factually incorrect if you count all 1.275 square miles of land. But “although it’s inaccurate, it’s just been around for over 100 years so it … gives the impression you’re visiting a small city that has a lot packed into it,” said Foster.
“I like it,” said Karl Gerstner, 53, owner of Beowoof Provisions for Pets, a business on Fifth Street, for the past 22 years.
The pet store owner, who is keen on wordplay (having named his story after Beowulf), could not think of a better nickname for Hoboken.
“Nothing comes to mind,” he said. “The Mile Square City is simple and fairly accurate.”
Christina Torcato, a five-year resident, said, “I think it’s cute. There are a lot of businesses that have adopted it, so that’s a sign the community is behind it. I think people don’t really use it in general conversation, but if you mention it, you know you’re talking about Hoboken.”
Lifelong resident Julian Ognissanti, 22, a dog walker, remembers hearing the nickname growing up.
“I heard it my whole life, although it’s really two square miles. It has all the attributes to a good nickname, so I think it works,” said Ognissanti.
Even those who haven’t been in the city for long have heard of it.
Raki Rao, 25, who lives in The Heights of Jersey City, moved to the United States in 2013 from India to study computer science at Stevens Institute of Technology.
“It’s a good nickname, but before I came, I just knew it as Hoboken,” said Rao.
Steven Rodas can be reached at srodas@hudsonreporter.com.