Empire State
The Empire State is a nickname for the U.S. state of New York, adopted in the 1800s. It has been incorporated into the names of several state buildings and events. The source of the nickname is unknown and has puzzled many historians; as American writer Paul Eldridge put it, "Who was the merry wag who crowned the State... [as the Empire State ]? New York would certainly raise a monument to his memory, but he made his grandiose gesture and vanished forever."