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New York-New York uses the New York City theme of its name in many ways. Its architecture creates an impression of the New York City skyline; the hotel includes several towers configured to resemble New York City skyscrapers, such as the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. In front of the property is a pool representing New York Harbor, with a 150-foot-tall (half-scale) replica of the Statue of Liberty and a replica of the Brooklyn Bridge. A roller coaster, the Manhattan Express, travels through the property's interior and exterior, and has cars painted to resemble a traditional Checker Cab; the coaster is 203 feet tall, has a maximum drop of 144 feet, and reaches speeds up to 67 MPH. Within the resort, particular gambling areas, bars, eating areas and meeting rooms are named after New York City neighborhoods or landmarks. The main casino area, for example, is named after Central Park, while the "Village Eateries" food court is modeled after New York City's Greenwich Village, even including real menus from New York Chinese takeout restaurants taped to the doors of the mock apartment buildings. New York-New York uses the trademarked slogan "The Greatest City in Las Vegas."

New York-New York is also home to Zumanity, the third show from Cirque du Soleil to take up permanent residence in Las Vegas and the first to be directed primarily toward adult audiences. In fact, it is the only permanent Cirque show to restrict admission to those over 18 years of age. The theatre is arranged as a cabaret, with sofas and bar stools complementing the standard theatre seats. The Master of Ceremonies for the show is Joey Arias, a drag queen hailing from New York City.

The resort is located on the northwest corner of the very busy Tropicana - Las Vegas Boulevard intersection. Pedestrians are not allowed to cross at street level. Instead, New York-New York is linked by overhead pedestrian bridges to its neighboring casinos to the south (the Excalibur, across Tropicana Avenue) and to the east (the MGM Grand, across the Strip).

History

The property opened on January 3, 1997. The project, which was first announced in 1994, was a joint venture of MGM Grand Inc. and Primadonna Resorts.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, people spontaneously sent various tributes to New York-New York, especially tee-shirts from police, fire and rescue departments around the country. These were displayed for some time along the fence in front of the "Lady Liberty" replica. Eventually, they were replaced by a permanent memorial there. The facility was fortunate in that the twin towers of the World Trade Center were not among the skyscrapers depicted in its facade.