It is owned by Vici Properties and operated by MGM Resorts International, and is designed to evoke New York City in its architecture and other aspects.

[2] Japanese firm Universal Distributing owned the property, and had discussed a joint venture with the Promus Companies to build a hotel-casino, but could not reach an agreement.

[2] The idea of a casino modeled after the New York skyline was conceived by Sig Rogich (a former White House staffer and United States Ambassador to Iceland) and Mark Advent.

[11] Requests for pre-opening tours, made by media outlets and financial analysts, were rejected to maintain secrecy up until the resort's debut.

[19][20][21] ARK was against unionization and fought against allegations for the next six years that it had violated the National Labor Relations Act, ultimately losing in court.

[22][23][24] In 1998, the Frank Sinatra album Lucky Numbers was put on sale exclusively at New York-New York, before receiving a wider release later that year.

[25][26] Since the initiation of New York-New York, analysts had speculated that MGM Grand or Primadonna would buy out the other's interest in the project.

The 2001 film Ocean's Eleven was to include a scene of New York-New York being imploded, but this was removed following the September 11 attacks, and was replaced by a fictional hotel called the Xanadu.

[31][32] After the attacks, people spontaneously sent various tributes to New York-New York, especially T-shirts from police, fire and rescue departments around the country.

Some items, including approximately 4,000 T-shirts, were archived at Lied Library, part of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV).

[45] In August 2022, New York-New York announced plans to spend $63 million completely renovating 1,830 rooms and 155 of its suites by mid-2023.

[46][47] On July 6, 2007, gunman Steven Zegrean opened fire inside the casino shortly after midnight, wounding four people before bystanders subdued him.

[60] This is due to an error by the stamp designers, who incorrectly chose a stock photo of the replica instead of the original and did not recognize the difference.

[61][62] Robert Davidson, the sculptor of the Las Vegas statue, sued the Postal Service in 2013 for copyright infringement.

His lawyers pointed out that the replica is a distinct piece of art, with intentional variations from the original Statue of Liberty.

[64] The resort's exterior was designed by Neal Gaskin and Ilia Bezansky, who closely studied travel books and architectural drawings rather than visit New York City.

[66] The exterior features a 150-foot (46 m) replica of the Statue of Liberty, situated at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue.

[70] The exterior also features an enlarged replica of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument;[34][66] the Main Immigration Building on Ellis Island; and Grand Central Terminal.

[73] The interior was designed by Yates-Silverman Inc.[12][74] The casino is meant to resemble various areas of New York, including Broadway, Central Park, Greenwich Village, Times Square, and Wall Street.

[76] A food court, designed with architect Hugh Hardy as a consultant, was created to resemble Little Italy, Manhattan.

[66] Another critic, Benjamin Forgey of The Washington Post, wrote that the skyscraper replicas "are made, literally, out of Styrofoam (on a steel backing) -- they don't exactly have the feel of bricks and mortar.

"[83] Critic Nicolai Ouroussoff, writing for the Los Angeles Times, called New York-New York a "freakish apparition".

[84][85] In 1998, a federal judge ruled against the firm, which subsequently filed a state lawsuit against Advent, alleging breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets.

[92] Shortly after the opening, the United States Department of Justice found various areas of the resort – including the entrance, hotel rooms, and pedestrian bridges – to be non-compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

[95] When the resort opened, it featured a second-floor, 28,000 sq ft (2,600 m2) video game arcade which also included bumper cars and laser tag.

[110] Both were added to reinvigorate the resort, which had lost some business to newer properties such as Mandalay Bay and Paris Las Vegas.

It featured a stage for performers, and also included an outdoor 2,000 sq ft (190 m2) patio along the Las Vegas Strip, where DJ parties would take place.

[126][127] The 2013-14 façade renovation included the addition of a two-story Hershey's Chocolate World, which serves as the flagship store.

[146][147][148] Comedian Rita Rudner began performing at the resort in April 2001, in a new venue dubbed the Cabaret Theatre.

[152][153] Zumanity, an adult-themed show by Cirque du Soleil, debuted at New York-New York in 2003,[154][155][156] replacing Lord of the Dance.