Title: 'Know Your City' Quiz

Brian Lehrer: It's the Brian Lehrer show on WNYC. Good morning again, everyone. This week during our membership drive, we've been doing our latest membership drive quiz series. It's been 100 Years of 100 Things quiz series, question drawn from our 100 Years of 100 Things history series. We'll end the drive with a special treat of a history quiz. We have a guest quiz master who has drawn up a great set of questions that he is uniquely qualified to ask. He is Michael Miscione, the former official Manhattan borough historian. Same rules apply. Get two in a row right, and today you'll win our brand new 2025 WNYC wall calendar with an archival WNYC photograph on each month's page, same as the ones we're offering as a membership drive thank-you gift. Who wants to play? 212-433-WNYC? Michael, thanks for offering to do this. I'm so excited.

Michael Miscione: It is my pleasure, Brian.

Brian Lehrer: Those calls are coming in. Just to connect this to some WNYC history, there was a quiz show on the station in the 1950s called Know Your City. Here's how it used to start, folks.

Radio Excerpt: Hear ye, hear ye. Know your city. Know your city.

Brian Lehrer: Very 1950s. We will play a little example from the Know Your City quiz show on WNYC in the 1950s, too, now. They often had kids as contestants. Michael, it was with the Manhattan Borough President at that time. Do you know who that was?

Michael Miscione: The Manhattan Borough historian at that time.

Brian Lehrer: Historian. Historian. That's what I meant to say.

Michael Miscione: Yes, it's a common mistake. Yes, it was the very first Manhattan borough historian. She was appointed in 1950. Her name was Edith McGinnis. Although our listeners will learn that the name she's referred to on her quiz show is Aunt Edith. The contestants on the show were exclusively New York City schoolchildren and they were refer to her as Aunt Edith.

Brian Lehrer: Cool. So let's hear this 20-second clip.

Edith McGinnis: As you know, I'm sure Fordham is really a very interesting name for a community. I wonder if you can tell us how Fordham got its name. Stephen.

Stephen: Fordham means the village at the ford of the river.

Edith McGinnis: 'Houses at the ford' is also given as another interpretation of the name, or 'houses at the waiting place'.

Brian Lehrer: Fun. We're not the first show, hardly, to do a quiz on WNYC, but let's get to it. George in Riverdale, you ready to play?

George: Yes. Good morning to you both. Michael. I am also a tour guide and I know you very well. It's George Bulow. Anyway, I got your email yesterday, and let's try it.

Brian Lehrer: Michael, go ahead.

Michael Miscione: Okay. You should be able to bang this right off, George. I'm going to stay a little bit on the theme of current events. Yesterday we had a ticker-tape parade for the New York Liberty basketball team. The very first ticker-tape parade happened in an entirely spontaneous and unplanned way in 1886. A conventional parade was taking place on the streets of downtown Manhattan when bored and envious clerks working in offices above a side street wanted to be part of the fun.

They began tossing bundles of stock ticker tape, essentially long paper ribbons, out of the windows like confetti. A New York City tradition was born. What was the occasion of that original parade? Here's a hint. The name of the honorees of yesterday's parade is the hint.

George: Well, probably was the New York Knickerbockers baseball team.

Brian Lehrer: George in Riverdale, even though you were a ringer, it sounds like, you didn't get a right reveal. Michael.

Michael Miscione: That would be the opening day of the Statue of Liberty.

Brian Lehrer: The first ticker-tape parade in New York. All right, let's now go to David in Forest Hills. David, ready to play?

David: I'm ready.

Brian Lehrer: Michael, next question.

Michael Miscione: Singer Christina Aguilera and Saturday Night Live comedians Pete Davidson and Colin Jost were born there. Rubber researcher and industrialist Charles Goodyear lived there. Infamous bank robber Willie Sutton worked there. One-time vice-president and the killer of Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, died there. Where was there?

David: Oh, gosh. Hamilton Heights.

Michael Miscione: No.

Brian Lehrer: Not right reveal. That was harder than I thought it was going to be. The answer is--

Michael Miscione: I thought Christina Aguilera would give it away. It's Staten Island.

Brian Lehrer: I thought Pete Davidson would give it away, and Colin Jost.

Michael Miscione: Yes, exactly, and it's Staten Island.

Brian Lehrer: Well, close to Staten Island is our next contestant, Brian in Battery Park City. Hi, Brian. Ready to play?

Brian: Hope so.

Brian Lehrer: Michael.

Michael Miscione: Okay. In the early 1900s, a now widely accepted medical device was promoted as an attraction at an Oconee island amusement park. A showcase of these devices being used by actual patients would be a boardwalk fixture for decades. This unusual Surfside attraction was credited with saving over 6,000 lives. What was this medical device?

Brian: My goodness. No hints?

Michael Miscione: Nothing has come to mind.

Brian: Well, it couldn't be the roller coaster.

Michael Miscione: No. There's a medical device.

Brian Lehrer: Are newborn babies put in them? Pre-term babies, maybe?

Michael Miscione: That is correct.

Brian: An incubator.

Michael Miscione: The incubator. It was an attraction at Oconee Island amusement park before it was accepted by the medical community. The sort of proof of concept at the amusement park convinced the medical community that this was a viable and important medical advancement.

Brian Lehrer: Now, I know my role here. It's to make some of your harder questions a little easier for the listeners. One more, and Brian in Battery Park City will win the brand new 2025 WNYC history wall calendar. Go ahead, Michael.

Michael Miscione: The mostly Black 369th Regiment of the New York National Guard fought so valiantly in World War I, they were given a famous nickname. What was that nickname?

Brian: Oh, gosh, I should know this.

Michael Miscione: Here's a hint. If you drive on the Harlem River Drive, you might be familiar with this.

Brian: I don't drive. Nothing comes to mind and I should know it since I [unintelligible 00:07:46] .

Brian Lehrer: It sounds like you have another hint for him, Michael.

Michael Miscione: They made a movie about this. You know what? I take that back. I could be mistaken about that. Well, any-- Yes. Well, let's put it this way. The origin of the home neighborhoods of many of the men who fought is in the name. We'll give you half it right off the bat. It's Harlem.

Brian: The Harlem-- No, I can't use that word on the radio.

Brian Lehrer: All right, you'll have to reveal, Michael.

Michael Miscione: It's the Harlem Hellfighters.

Brian Lehrer: Is that the word you thought you couldn't say on the radio, Brian?

Brian: Yes, I thought I couldn't say that on the radio, even though [unintelligible 00:08:37] some of us are going.

Brian Lehrer: Brian, you know what? Cue the trumpets.

[trumpet sound]

Brian Lehrer: That was your second right answer and we appreciate your restraint, but you got two in a row right and you win at 2025 WNYC wall calendar. Hang on. We're going to take your address off the air and we're going to continue with part two of this Know Your City history quiz with former Manhattan borough historian Michael Miscione. Stay with us.

[music]

Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC as we continue our Membership drive quiz segment. It's been 100 Years of 100 Things Quiz Series for the most part this week, but we're ending the drive with a special treat of a history quiz. We have guest quiz master Michael Miscione, the former official Manhattan borough historian who drew up a Know Your City quiz in honor of the old WNYC quiz show called Know Your City. Michael, you're ready to keep hitting our contestants?

Michael Miscione: Sure.

Brian Lehrer: With those questions? Okay. How about Jonathan in Maplewood, New Jersey? Jonathan, you're on WNYC. Hello.

Jonathan: Hello.

Brian Lehrer: Ready to play?

Jonathan: Yes, I am [laughs].

Brian Lehrer: Go ahead, Michael.

Michael Miscione: Sure. A very popular statue in Central Park is that of a Siberian husky sled dog. That canine led one of the sled teams that brought diphtheria antitoxin to Nome, Alaska in 1925 to prevent an outbreak of that disease. The heroic dog sled run, by the way, is commemorated every year by the famous Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Now, the subject of the statue was alive and presented at the sculpture's unveiling. That's a very rare thing. Name this beloved pooch.

Jonathan: The dog was Balto, even though the real hero of that dog run was Togo.

Michael Miscione: This man deserves extra credit because he is absolutely correct.

Brian Lehrer: Wait a minute. Cue the trumpets. He got two answers in one question. Jonathan, you win a WNYC 2025 wall calendar. Hang on. We're going to take your address off the air. John in Manhattan, you're up next. Hi, John. Ready to play?

John: As ready as I'll ever be.

Brian Lehrer: Michael, hit John with a question.

Michael Miscione: Okay, so in keeping with one of the things that were done on the original Know Your City broadcast where they used audio clips, we're going to use an audio clip for this question and it relates to the history of WNYC. In 1945, this New York City mayor famously read the funny papers to the kiddies over the radio on WNYC. We're going to hear a clip.

Fiorello La Guardia: Next picture we see Dick Tracy. You know, the fine type of Dick Tracy. He's been a detective so long and he still has that slender form. "Lou Valentine, why do our detectives get fat," I wonder? Say, children, what does it all mean? It means that dirty money never brings any luck.

Michael Miscione: Of course, the question is, who was this mayor who read the funny papers to the kiddies?

John: It was Fiorello La Guardia.

Michael Miscione: That is correct.

Brian Lehrer: One more to win a WNYC 2025 fall calendar.

Michael Miscione: Sure, we'll stick with Central Park. Another Central Park-related history question. Believed to be about 3,400 years old, it is the oldest major man-made structure in Central Park. It was brought to New York City in 1880 and soon acquired a nickname that despite being historically inaccurate, has stuck ever since. What am I talking about?

John: You are talking about Cleopatra's Needle, I assume?

[trumpet sound]

Michael Miscione: That is correct.

Brian Lehrer: Very nice, John. Hang on. We're going to take your address and send you a WNYC 2025 wall calendar in the mail. Let's go next to Joe on Staten Island. Hi, Joe. Ready to play?

Joe: Sure, why not? Let's do it.

Brian Lehrer: Michael.

Michael Miscione: Okay, so this is more about New York City culture than it really is about history, and it's more of a riddle than it is a strictly historical or academic question. Explain the logic behind the following sequence. A equals blue. B equals orange. C equals blue. D equals orange. E equals blue. F equals orange. G equals green. I'll give you a hint. It has nothing to do with New York City's official colors.

Brian Lehrer: This is such a cool question, and for anybody who got my newsletter this week, I actually made a reference to exactly this, as a coincidence, in my little column. Don't let that distract you if you didn't read it.

Joe: Hang on, Brian, I got to look at my email. [laughter] Just a second. I have to say, I was going to say it was the New York City flag, but that's too many stripes of the same colors. Green. Where would that come from?

Brian Lehrer: Michael, read the question one more time.

Michael Miscione: Sure. By the way, this is my all-time favorite trivia question. I'm very proud to have come up with this.

Brian Lehrer: It's my all time favorite from your list, I have to say.

Michael Miscione: Thank you. A equals blue.

Brian Lehrer: The A. Oh, the A. Interesting. Go ahead.

Michael Miscione: B equals orange.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, the B is orange. I've seen that.

Michael Miscione: C equals blue.

Brian Lehrer: The C is also blue, like the A,

Michael Miscione: D equals orange. E equals blue. F equals orange. G equals green.

Brian Lehrer: Yes, Joe.

Joe: Yes. I'm going to--

Brian Lehrer: I didn't give it away? What is this thing?

Joe: I must be going in the wrong direction.

Brian Lehrer: What is this object that has all of those relationships where A equals blue, A is blue, the A and the C are blue, the B and the D are orange. Can I give it away any more?

[laughter]

Joe: It's the subway.

Michael Miscione: Correct. Those are the iconographic colors of these different subway lines on the subway map.

Brian Lehrer: You got one right.

Joe: Thanks for spoon feeding me. Yes, spoon fed me the whole way, but thanks.

Brian Lehrer: Give him a chance. One more. Michael, go ahead.

Michael Miscione: The beloved New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra was--

Brian Lehrer: Maybe it's because he's from Staten Island, by the way. We should give you a subway line already, but that's another show. Go ahead.

Michael Miscione: The beloved New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra was famous for unintentional witticisms known as Yogiisms. Yogi uttered what is probably his most famous Yogiism after his Yankee teammates Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris hit back to back homers during the 1961 season. What did Yogi say?

Joe: Geez. You know, I know a few Yogiisms, but I don't think I know that one.

Michael Miscione: It's a very famous one.

Joe: A very famous one.

Brian Lehrer: By the way, we're going to have a Yogi Berra segment coming up in our 100 Years of 100 Things series, because he was born in 1925, so we're going to do 100 Years of Yogi Berra after New Year's, but go ahead.

Joe: Do you still have that spoon that you fed me with before any--?

[laughter]

Michael Miscione: Brian, perhaps does this question sound familiar?

Brian Lehrer: You know, I don't know. I also know a bunch of Yogiisms, but I'm not sure which one this is.

Michael Miscione: Okay.

Joe: See, I'm not alone now.

Michael Miscione: You're going to kick yourselves when you hear the answer.

Brian Lehrer: Thanks for trying, Joe. Thank you very much. It was fun to have you on. Go ahead, Michael. What's the answer?

Michael Miscione: "It's deja vu all over again."

Brian Lehrer: Oh, that's when he said, "Deja vu all over again."

Michael Miscione: Yes.

Brian Lehrer: How about that? Well, with the World Series being in LA, what I was thinking of, of course it wouldn't answer this question, is the time that I believe they were playing on the West Coast and Yogi said, "It gets late early out here."

Michael Miscione: [laughs] I've got some other Yogiisms just to rattle right off. He also said--

Brian Lehrer: Oh, go ahead.

Michael Miscione: "It ain't over till it's over." "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."

Brian Lehrer: I love that one.

Michael Miscione: "Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel." My favorite, "I didn't really say everything I said."

Brian Lehrer: He said that on the show, as a matter of fact, but he was on as a guest before he passed away. I said, you've said all these things that people quote all the time. "I didn't say everything I said." Josh in Astoria is going to be our last contestant. Let's see if we can give away one more wall calendar. Hi, Josh.

Josh: Hi.

Brian Lehrer: Ready to play?

Josh: I sure hope so.

Brian Lehrer: Michael, hit him.

Michael Miscione: Okay, Josh, I hate to do it to you, but this is not an easy one, but let's see if you're up to it. Where would you find a parcel of land that is officially part of New York City but is almost entirely surrounded by land that is officially part of New Jersey?

Josh: Liberty Island.

Michael Miscione: Keep. You're in the right ballpark.

Josh: Not Governors Island, not Liberty island, not Liberty State Park. It's--

Brian Lehrer: Did any of your ancestors--?

Josh: Ellis Island. Ellis Island. There it is.

Michael Miscione: Ellis island is correct.

Josh: Awesome.

Brian Lehrer: One to go. I've got the spoon out.

Michael Miscione: Okay, here we go. There's a good one. Fiorello La Guardia. Irving Berlin, Herman Melville. Madam C. J. Walker, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Duke Ellington and Robert Moses currently share the same address in what borough?

Josh: God, it's either the Bronx or Brooklyn. I don't remember if they're buried in Woodlawn or Greenwood. Could I get a hint? How's that silver spoon tasting?

Michael Miscione: Brian, you're the master of the silver spoon. I'll leave it to you.

Brian Lehrer: I would say, I would say take the 4 Train up to that place.

Josh: It's Woodlawn.

Michael Miscione: That borough is--?

Josh: Oh, the Bronx. Yes.

[trumpet sound]

Michael Miscione: Correct.

Josh: Awesome.

Brian Lehrer: Josh, thank you very much. Hang on, we're going to take your address off the air and mail you at 2025 WNYC archival photographs wall calendar. Michael Miscione, former Manhattan borough historian, this has been so much fun. We'll have to find a way to do it again. Thank you very, very, very much.

Michael Miscione: Totally a pleasure. I'd love to do it again.

 

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