Within Rockland County, New City is located north of Bardonia, northeast of Nanuet, east of New Square and New Hempstead, south of Garnerville and the village of Haverstraw, and west of Congers (across Lake DeForest).

Before the Revolutionary War, the land that would later become known as New City was inhabited mostly by Lenni Lenape American Indians.

In 1780, Major John André and Josh Hett Smith stopped at Coe's Tavern, located on what is now the corner of New Hempstead Road and Route 45.

The community got its name because the founding fathers envisioned a "new" city when forming the new county seat.

[5] In 1918, Paramount Pictures founder Adolph Zukor moved to New City where he bought 300 acres of land from Lawrence Abraham which already had a large house, a swimming pool, and a 9-hole golf course on the property.

[7] Zukor's property attracted a large number of artistic people to the area; including Maxwell Anderson, Henry Varnum Poor, Norman Lloyd, Kurt Weill, Martha MacGuffie, Lotte Lenya, John Houseman and more who all lived on South Mountain Road and formed an artist colony there.

Dutch Gardens, the oldest remaining park in the county, was built in 1934 by Italian artisans, known for its unique patterned brickwork.

Located just south of the courthouse in the downtown area, it is still one of the most commonly visited parks in Rockland County today.

[5] New City remained rural in character until the 1950s, when the idea of post-World War II suburbia, as well as the opening of the Tappan Zee Bridge and Palisades Interstate Parkway, made traveling between New York City and Rockland County faster, and easier.

The downtown area became home to many banks, retail, and real-estate companies; as well as restaurants, shops, a movie theater, bars, and many other forms of entertainment.

Certain parts of the town, such as South Mountain Road and Lake Lucille, have been preserved, and remain quiet, wooded, historic old-wealth neighborhoods.