Philadelphia

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

Whose theory was this? I've never heard this before. Since that vowel was (as
I recall) quite prominent in the speech of African-Americans throughout the
South, I've never connected it historically with New York-ese.

*****in reply to:
... the theory that New Orleans' "toity-toid" vowel
came from New York through close commercial contact in the early 19th c,
because New York wouldn't have had it to give...