>>8967999 >Laura Ingraham just called NY the EMPIRE STATE (need clip) (PBNotable)
Gosh, Anons -- turn Faux the hell off. It's been known as that for centuries. And the Empire State Building?
Wiki: The source of the term "Empire State" is uncertain. It has been attributed to the state's wealth and resources,[2] but there is some doubt regarding that. Two possible stories involve America's first president George Washington.
The first refers to an April 10, 1785 letter to New York City Mayor James Duane in which Washington called New York "the Seat of the Empire". Washington is also said to have used the phrase "Pathway to Empire" once when referring to the state in conversation with Governor George Clinton in the 1790s; no documentation exists for this exchange, however.[1]
Alexander Flick's History of New York State claims that the title was used as early as 1819, coinciding with New York surpassing Virginia in population.