New York may be the greatest city on Earth—when compared to other cities—but how does it measure against its Las Vegas counterpart, a self-contained Big Apple replica constructed in 1997 on the World Famous Las Vegas Strip and containing more than 2,000 rooms, a dozen eateries, bars and nightclubs, plus zillions of slot machines. We put New York City and New York Las Vegas Hotel and Casino side-by-side for the ultimate smackdown. And the winner is…
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Left: Shutterstock | Right: Flickr CC: Meredith P
Weather
New York City has four distinct seasons that can be lovely at times, but also horrendous. Summers are stinky and wretchedly humid while winters are grey, slushy and blizzard prone. Meanwhile, New York Las Vegas is climate controlled year round and beyond its glass doors are gorgeous sunny skies. The resort’s swimming pools are perfect for beating summer’s heat. WINNER: New York Las Vegas
Left: Momofuku Flickr CC: bnhsu | Right: Il Fornaio Flickr CC: Haydn Blackey
Food
There are more than 24,000 eateries in New York City, including legendary restaurants like Eleven Madison Park, the Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, the Momofuku empire and many others. Meanwhile, New York Las Vegas boasts Gallagher’s Steakhouse and Il Fornaio—both Manhattan replicas—and tries to do the late night pizza thing with, at best, iffy results. WINNER: NYC
Left: Gavin Schaefer | Right: NY NY Vegas
Cleanliness
East Coast cities like New York were built without alleyways, but as the country expanded westward, city planners figured out that putting trash on the street was kind of a horrifying idea. Plus the Big Apple has very big rats, Vegas doesn’t. WINNER: New York Las Vegas
Left: Newark, Shutterstock | Right: @rgphotocinema
Location
No competition here. A stone’s throw from New York Hotel and Casino is Egypt (Luxor Hotel and Casino), Rome (Caesars Palace) and Paris (Paris Las Vegas) while a stone’s throw from New York City is Newark. No thank you. WINNER: New York Las Vegas
Left: Nomad Hotel | Right: NY NY Vegas
Accommodations
From the grandeur of the Plaza Hotel to style standouts like the NoMad and the Library Hotel, New York City has some of the finest accommodations in the world—for a price. At New York Hotel and Casino rooms are bookable for as little as $69/nightly. WINNER: Tie
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Left: Shutterstock | Right: NY NY Vegas
Transportation
Yellow cabs are ubiquitous around Manhattan, Uber and Lyft have stormed the boroughs and its subway system is one of the most comprehensive in the world. New York Las Vegas has…a taxi-themed roller coaster and several escalators. WINNER: NYC
Left: Flickr CC: Clatie K | Right: NY NY Vegas
Affordability
HAHAHAHAHAHA WINNER: New York Las Vegas
Left: Shutterstock | Right: NY NY Vegas
Friendliness
New York has its fair share of jerk wads for sure, but most are actually nice people if you can get them to slow down long enough to give you the time of day (spoiler alert: you can’t). Meanwhile, the staff at New York Hotel and Casino are friendly and courteous and most end their sentences with the phrase, “Good luck!” Aww. WINNER: New York Las Vegas
Skyline
New York Hotel and Casino has a skyline exterior that truncates the real one with replicas of the Statue of Liberty, the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings, the Whitney Museum and Grand Central Terminal, among others. Meanwhile, the actual Manhattan skyline is a breathtaking site to behold in real life and fires up the human imagination like no other. WINNER: NYC
Left: Central Park, Shutterstock |Right: Bliss Dance, @gabwein
Green space
Vegas tends to turn its back on nature and toward the casino floor. But that’s no longer the case, thanks to the beautiful new Park Las Vegas which opened earlier this year and includes lush desert foliage, misters, live music, several eateries and Bliss Dance, a 40-foot sculpture that made its first appearance at Burning Man. But few parks can ever touch the splendors that are Central Park and Prospect Park. WINNER: NYC
GRAND WINNER:
New York Resort and Casino Las Vegas. Better luck next time New York City, and don’t worry: We know you’ll never stop believing you’re the greatest (even if you aren’t), so rest easy knowing that you’re at least a legend in your own mind. Besides, you have “Hamilton”and that counts for something.
