9/5/2013
By Ivan Pereira
Political debates, TV ads and meet and greets may give New Yorkers some insight into the knowledge of the mayoral candidates, but how much about the Big Apple history do they really know?
Over the last month, amNewYork sat down with some of the mayoral candidates and grilled them on various New York City trivia in a 10-question quiz. The participating candidates had 30 seconds to answer each question and had no assistance. Public Advocate Bill de Blasio declined to take the quiz, while Bill Thompson tried to schedule a time but it fell through. The remaining candidates didn’t respond to requests to take part in the quiz.
Quiz: Questions and Correct Answers
Where was mobster Joey Gallo shot dead? Umberto’s Clam House
How many subway stations are there? 468
What is Coogan’s Bluff? An elevated piece of land that rises over the Harlem River and overlooked the Polo Grounds
How do you make a New York Egg Cream? milk, seltzer, and chocolate syrup
Which borough is Poe Park in? The Bronx
Who was “The Little Flower?” Fiorello LaGuardia
What famous board game was invented in Jackson Heights? Scrabble
What Year was the MetroCard Introduced? 1993
What Year Did the Empire State Building Open? 1931
Where did Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond go to high school? Erasmus Hall
Candidates’ correct answers in bold
Winner – Anthony Weiner’s Answers: 6 Correct
1. Sparks Steak House. (“I’m one question in and I already hate this game.”)
2. 231
3. Coogan’s bluff is the hill in the Dyker Beach public golf course on the 18th hole.
4. You need chocolate syrup, milk and seltzer.
5. The Bronx
6. Fiorello LaGuardia
7. Scrabble
8. 2000
9. 1931
10. Erasmus Hall
Joe Lhota’s Answers: 5 Correct
1. Umberto’s Clam House on Mulberry Street.
2.468
3. I have no idea. Isn’t that a movie? (note, it is, but not what we were looking for)
4. Seltzer, Ubets chocolate syrup and milk
5. The Bronx
6. Fiorello LaGuardia
7. Monopoly
8. 96, 97 (or) 98. When it was introduced and when it was implemented are two different things.
9. 1929
10. In Brooklyn … in Flatbush … Midwood
Christine Quinn’s Answers: 4 Correct
1. Umberto’s Clam House
2. 182
3. A rock structure in Washington Heights
4. Seltzer water and chocolate syrup.
5. The Bronx
6. Fiorello LaGuardia
7. Monopoly
8. 1998
9. 1923
10. Erasmus Hall
Sal Albanese’s Answers: 4 Correct
1. Umberto’s Clam House
2. A lot. I don’t know the exact answer but a lot.
3. It’s overlooking the East River up by Columbia university.
4. Seltzer and chocolate syrup.
5. The Bronx
6. Fiorello LaGuardia
7. Monopoly
8. 2002
9. 1935
10. Erasmus Hall
John Liu’s Answer: 1 correct
1. Liu jokingly gave the address for amNewYork when he didn’t know.
2. 468
3. It’s … a scenic view near the Cloisters.
4. Take some seltzer and dump an egg in it?
5. Queens
6. The florist on 14th Street.
7. Monopoly
8. 1995 plus or minus two years
9. 1951
10. LaGuardia High School
Jack Hidary’s Answers: 0 Correct
1. Raos
2. 526
3. Pass
4. Butter, Milk, Eggs
5. Brooklyn
6. Pass
7. Monopoly
8. 1995
9. 1930
10. Lincoln High School
***
New Yorkers test their luck in mayoral candidate quiz
None of the candidates who took part in amNewYork’s trivia quiz scored a perfect 10 out of 10 and regular New Yorkers we tested had a hard time too.
We asked the questions to six people and the best score was a 2 from Ali Greenberg. The 30-year-old Gramercy resident, who is the founder of Gramercy Learning online, was quick to know that Erasmus Hall was the high school that Neil Diamond and Barbara Streisand attended because of her mom was an alumni too.
“These questions aren’t that easy,” she joked as she answered the quiz in Union Square during her lunch break.
Caitlin DeLaney, 29, of the Upper East Side, got one question right when she guessed that Poe Park was in the Bronx. When told about some of the candidates’ scores, including Anthony Weiner’s leading 6 out of 10, she said she was impressed. “You guys really made it difficult for them,” she said.
