Miss America, Technically, Is Not A Real New Yorker, But So What?
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Miss New York was crowned Miss America this past weekend, but is she a real New Yorker?
As CBS 2's Emily Smith reported, Brooklyn resident Mallory Hagan was crowned this past Saturday, but she is actually a native of Alabama.
Anthony Demonda of Park Slope is a Brooklyn native.
"It's a Brooklyn thing – 'Oh, fugget-about-it," Demonda said, adding that she will be a New Yorker when "she does that."
"I've lived here for 20 years, so I feel like that gives me street cred," a woman said.
"You can't fake it," another native added. "How do you say orange? Ar-onge."
Just how do you know when you're a real New Yorker? It seems like everybody has different standards. But when it comes to beauty pageants, it only takes six months.
Still, seeing Miss New York crowned Miss America was very much an exciting phenomenon for some.
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz couldn't be prouder of Hagan, 23.
"It's Brooklyn chutzpah!" Markowitz said.
But others said living in the city just five years hardly makes one a New Yorker.
"I think she is half of a New Yorker," one person said. "But then there's the whole pageant thing. I don't know how New York that is."
Hagan would hardly be the first transplant to become synonymous with New York.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton originally hails from the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, and ruffled feathers when she moved to New York just to run for Senate.
Even Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a transplant, born and raised near Boston.
Miss America moved to New York in 2008 when she was just 18 years old, with less than $1,000 in her pocket. She waitressed while studying at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Chelsea.
"She had a goal. She met her goal," said Elaine Almond of Brooklyn. "That's what it's all about, right? Reaching your goal and what you're playing for."
Technicalities aside, Hagan is officially New York's first Miss America in nearly three decades. The last Miss New York to be crowned Miss America was Vanessa Williams in 1984, who was born in Tarrytown in Westchester County.
Do you think Miss America is a real New Yorker? Leave your comments below...
