N.Y. Moves West for Hotel Opening

Las Vegas, which has made the desert bloom with flamboyant themed hotels, will sprout a new exotic species, New York-New York Hotel & Casino, on Jan. 3.

Billing itself as “the greatest city in Las Vegas,” the hotel clusters its 2,035 rooms in 12 skyscrapers that mimic the Manhattan skyline--on a smaller scale. The Empire State Building, for example, is downsized to 510 feet tall from its actual 1,250 feet (minus the TV tower). Among the other Big Apple icons are the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge and the Chrysler Building.

There is a casino, of course, decorated to evoke everything from Greenwich Village to Times Square. It has 2,400 slot machines and 75 gaming tables. Zooming in and around the whole complex will be a roller coaster. A family entertainment center, with carnival games and bumper cars, mimics turn-of-the-century Coney Island.

A joint venture of MGM Grand Inc. and Primadonna Resorts Inc., the $460-million hotel opens amid a Vegas building boom expected to add four huge resorts by the end of 1998. Room rates at New York-New York will be $89 Sundays through Thursdays, $129 Fridays and Saturdays, plus tax. Reservations: (800) 693-6763.