International Navigation's vice president, Clement Griscom, immediately sailed to Liverpool with a commitment from the Pennsylvania Railroad to provide $2 million in capital towards the building of a new ship.

The original design called two ships of 8,500 GRT that were only slightly bigger than City of Rome, but with steel hulls and twin screws.

[3] Because powerful single screw liners were prone to shaft failure, they carried extensive rigging for sails.

[3] While size was increased by almost 25% to 10,500 GRT in the final design, the plan retained City of Rome's classic clipper bow and three raked funnels.

Her sister, City of Paris entered service in April 1889 and took the westbound Blue Riband a month later.

However, even before City of New York was completed, the British Government responded to Inman's ownership change by revoking the line's mail contract.

After considerable controversy, Congress enacted the subsidy provided that International Navigation build two similar ships in the US and all four twin-screw liners being available to the government in the event of a crisis.

In one of his last acts in office, on February 22, 1893, President Benjamin Harrison boarded the now renamed New York during a snowstorm and raised the American Flag.

Assigned as a scout, Harvard departed New York on 30 April to cruise West Indian waters in search of the Spanish fleet.

After sending back several reports on the location of Spanish units in the Caribbean, Harvard was blockaded by a larger force at Saint-Pierre, Martinique from 11–17 May, after which she proceeded to Santiago de Cuba and St. Nicholas Mole, Haiti, with dispatches from Commodore Winfield Scott Schley.

Interrupting her scouting duties, Harvard returned to Newport News, Virginia, 7–26 June during which time her crew was officially taken into the Naval Service.

Despite the high surf and ammunition explosions from the stricken Spanish ships, Harvard succeeded in recovering over 600 officers and men.

She was temporarily turned over to the War Department, and returned to Santiago de Cuba to transport troops back to the United States.

In 1901, New York was taken out of service for an extensive refit that included replacing her machinery with quadruple expansion engines.

The three-inch steel hawsers that secured her were torn from their moorings when the much larger Titanic (leaving port to begin her ill-fated maiden voyage to New York City) passed by, creating a suction effect.

A collision was narrowly avoided when Titanic's captain, Edward Smith, ordered the port propeller to reverse, turning the larger liner while the nearby tugboat Vulcan towed New York in the opposite direction.

As darkness fell at around 18:00, Jenkins took station astern of New York while Shaw continued to patrol ahead.

[3] She was returning from her fourth trip to Europe when World War I ended when the Armistice with Germany was signed on 11 November 1918, having transported a total of 8,776 troops.

Upon her arrival at New York from her last trip on 29 August 1919, she was transferred from the Cruiser and Transport Force to the 3rd Naval District.

She resumed passenger service in 1920 and remained with the American Line for nine months until she was sold to the Polish Navigation Company.

After one voyage, her new owner went bankrupt and New York was seized by the creditors, who sold her to the Irish American Line in 1922.