(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “When/how was the city given this name?”)
On May 11, 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville, a young French aristocrat, disembarked in the bustling harbor of New York City. He had crossed the ocean to try to understand the implications for European civilization of the new experiment in democracy on the far side of the Atlantic.
I always wanted a real home with flowers on the window sill, But if you want to live in New York City, honey, you know I will.
2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, “New Jersey Continues to Cope with Hurricane Sandy”, in The New York Times[2], archived from the original on 6 January 2021, retrieved 31 October 2012:
New Jersey was reeling on Wednesday from the impact of Hurricane Sandy, which has caused catastrophic flooding here in Hoboken and in other New York City suburbs, destroyed entire neighborhoods across the state and wiped out iconic boardwalks in shore towns that had enchanted generations of vacationgoers.
2020 September 14, Richard H. Pildes, “The three words that can avert an election nightmare”, in CNN[3]:
In recent primaries, for example, nearly 4% of absentees were rejected in Philadelphia; 8% in Kentucky; and 20% in parts of New York City.
New York City refers to the entire city spanning all five boroughs since its consolidation in 1898. Prior to that the city was primarily on Manhattan Island. The city’s official name is New York but it is commonly referred to as New York City (NYC), the City of New York, or New York, New York (NY, NY), in order to distinguish it from the state of New York.
New York City on Wikipedia.Wikipedia 