So I decided to finally do some research. It isn't exactly concrete fact, but I figured I'd post it anyway so that I won't have to remember all this stuff and say it over the phone.From what I've read, there are several answers to the question.
The most common response is that the term originated in the 1930's from jazz musicians who would refer to New York as the Big Apple. They would refer to New York in this way because it was the biggest, best, hippest, most enthusiastic and with all those attributes it was the most coveted place for them to play.
So how some random trumpet player came up with "Big Apple" isn't really certain. Although there is the thought that it may have come from the fact that there was a popular nightclub in Harlem called "The Big Apple." That makes sense too me.
The other story is that some newspaper writer in NY once heard some guys working in a stable who were so excited to come to New York where all the money was that they called it "The Big Apple." Maybe the horses ate apples, and they thought the apples would be bigger? I don't know, but the newspaper writer used it and it became a popular term.
So there you have it. More exciting trivia to come, including the origins of the I ♥ NY logo.
Note: The Big Apple (NYC) is not to be confused with the Big Apple, Colborne, Ontario.
I have a sneaking suspicion that Brooklyn has some organization of officials who pay men to stand around on the streets yelling "hey!" at people. It just happens that often. I think it helps to give Brooklyn that edginess it is known for, and the borough's committee wants to be sure to keep that whole attitude going.
The woman at the cash was chewing a stick of licorice root. 
In other news, I snapped off a couple shots of these trees taking over a fence. These trees are on the way to our nutty grocery store where people are generally insane. I really enjoy these trees, I hope you do too.
There's not much that looks familiar, if anything. However, in the original old photograph from 1929 you can see this building: 
It may still standing down the street to the east of us, although in my updated photo it isn't visible. I do have a recent photo of it, not very detailed, but I liked the shot. I'm not sure if it's the same, but it looks somewhat similar:
And the after shot:
The only recognizable building in each photo is the brown building on the far left, everything else has changed pretty drastically. That's the Walgreens where I get my photos developed!
Walking down the street I can smell delicious pastries being baked. 
There is a baseball field right near our place and when there's a game on there are loud cheers in Spanish, the sound of the aluminum bats hitting the ball and the low rumbling of bass from someone's car stereo, likely double parked outside the field with people sitting on lawn chairs on the sidewalk. 
You can take the ferry there for free and it's free to roam around. The island is only open on weekends. The island has several Victorian and post-Colonial homes that are really pretty, and it has every building that a little town should have (theatre, library, gym, churches, etc.). The parklands are also very, very nice. It also has an 18th century fort and a "castle" (which was really another big fort made of stone). The place is incredible and it's crazy that it's been there for so long without really being on the general public's radar. 
What happened in 1996 was that the Coast Guard (who was then occupying the island) returned it to the city and it basically sat in mothballs while everyone debated what to do with it. Giulianni apparently wanted to turn the island into a casino, which thankfully did not happen. In 2003 they decided to make it a national monument and open it up to public use. There is still a lot of restoration going on in the houses but it's unclear as to what their purpose will be. 
There are hundreds of buldings on the island, and a good portion of those are 18th and 19th century. Joel and I were saddened when glancing into so many of them and seeing the plaster peeling away from the ceilings and walls, and also many interiors seem to be gutted. Several doors wore signs warning of aesbestos contamination and there were spiderwebs everywhere. I was very frustrated at one point because there were all these cool empty buildings just waiting to be explored and you couldn't get into ANY of them. Out of all those buildings, only 7 were open to the public. No one lives on the island any more, so most of those buildings are falling to ruin.
This is the Governor's house; one of the oldest buildings on the island (18th century) and rumored to have an underground tunnel leading to Red Hook in Brooklyn. It would have been cool to actually SEE this... 
This is the view of Manhattan from Governors Island. Scroll to the left and there's the Statue of Liberty.
Nas is a New Yorker, born in the Queensbridge Houses located in Long Island City, Queens. With 3,143 units it is the largest public housing development in the United States. Marley Marl, MC Shan, Mobb Deep and Cormega are some other rappers who are from the 'Bridge. Not to mention Ron Artest, currently of the NBA's Sacramento Kings.
Although two days ago I saw a record breaking 25!!! As of right now, there are four, how disappointing!!
I thought I would have more to write than this, but apparently I've forgotten it all.
Kitchen before:
Mike and my Dad loading up the truck in Ottawa.
A view from inside the truck on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.
My Dad taking a breather on the sidewalk.
The early stages of unloading the truck, before our movers came to save the day.