Can Green Newtown Pippin Apple Make It as NYC's Big Apple?

A Queens Councilman has taken a brave stand on an urgent issue: New York City's official apple. Councilman James Gennaro wants a resolution declaring the Newtown Pippin as the Big Apple's apple. This light green apple originated in the early 18th century in the Elmhurst section of Queens, formerly the village of Newtown. It was grown by both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who once wrote from Paris, "They have no apples here to compare with our Newtown pippin." But when the Post fanned out around Union Square to gauge public reaction, reporters found some people "offended to the core." Man on the street Robert Matysiewski worried, "People are used to the Big Apple being red, and choosing a green apple might confuse people." And one Emily Martin opined that "the Newtown apple doesn't sound promising. It sounds tasteless, sour and mealy." But Gennaro won't be deterred, and even sees a trendy green angle: "We've been working for years on the Environmental Protection Committee to turn this into the Big Green Apple, and little did I know we are a Big Green Apple." Developing!