New York falls for N.Z. hoax

Press, 17 June 1983, Page 2

New York falls for N.Z. hoax

PA Hamilton A woman who died in 1977, aged 93, has been made an honorary citizen of New York, and sent a Yankees baseball cap, an “I love New York” coffee mug, and a “Big Apple” pin, but it was all the result of a hoax, the “Waikato Times” reported yesterday. The parcel of good will and a letter from the Mayor of New York, Mr Edward Koch, was really inspired by the woman’s great-grand-son, aged 18, who sent a letter to a leading promotions firm in New York purportedly from a “99-year-old” New Zealand woman wanting information about the city. The “New York Times” took up the story, and the

Mayor responded by making “her” an honorary citizen.

The name could not be found in Waikato electoral rolls and the telephone directory, Hamilton reporters discovered, but the truth would out. The boy’s grandfather, and surrogate father, spoke to the “Waikato Times,” but asked for anonymity.

He had written to Mr Koch explaining, and aplogising, he said. The youth, a “Walter Mitty-type,” had been inseparable from bis greatgrandmother and her death had been a great shock to him.

She had told the boy she would have loved to travel, and had especially wanted to see New York.