“Gotham City” is a nickname for New York and was introduced by Washington Irving in 1807 as the home of fast-talking know-it-alls.
Irving got the name from a legend about King John, who wanted to build a regal estate near the actual Gotham in England.
He was discouraged when the citizens, not wanting to pay the added taxes, enacted a plan of feigning madness, like real New Yorkers.
The objection caused the king to change his mind in a “Gotham minute.”
