LAS VEGAS BABY ! – LAS VEGAS , NEVADA – A SLICE OF THE BIG APPLE IN LAS VEGAS , NEW YORK NEW YORK HOTEL AND CASINO .

I  was born  and  raised  in  that  other  city  that  never  sleeps ,  New York  City .

So I’ll  bet  you’re  wondering  just  why  would  I  fly  across  the  country  just  to see a  hotel  and  casino  with  a  fugazy  Brooklyn  Bridge ,  let  alone  a  replica  of  the  Statue  of  Liberty  in front  of  it ?

Um, because  it’s  there  and  I  can  because  this  is  my 30 Plus  Teams  Tour  of  Las  Vegas .

The  first  thing  one notices  when you  stand  on  the  street  and look up at the  facade, is just  that.

The facade that represents  Grand  Central  Station .

Those  screams  you hear  aren’t  from  people  who  just  won some  money  on the  slots  or on the  tables .

Look  above you before  you  walk in, you can’t  miss it .

Yes, it’s  a  big  roller  coaster  and it’s  called  ”  The  Big  Apple  ” .

You can  pretend  that  you’re  in Coney  Island ,  watching  the  Cyclone  go round  and  round .

The  roller  coaster  cars  are  even  in the shape  of  a  New York  City  taxicab .

Do my eyes  deceive  me?

Right  behind  that  much smaller  version  of  the  Statue  of  Liberty ,  is that a smaller  version  of  what else ,  Ellis  Island ?

(Special  thanks ,  by the  way  to my fellow  New Yorker  and friend Mish  for  allowing  me  to  use the Statue  of  Liberty  picture  in this  post.)

This is  New York ,  New  York  Hotel ,  so those just have to  be replicas  of  the  Empire  State  Building  and  the  Chrysler  Building ,  right ?

Yes  they  are .

When  you  finally  walk  inside ,  there’s  more than  enough  sights  to  make a New  Yorker  or a former  New Yorker  homesick  for all those  things  that  you  remember  as a  kid growing  up  in  the  Lower  East side ,  Washington  Heights ,  Harlem  or even Brooklyn ,  Queens ,  or Staten  Island .

The buildings  with  the  fire escapes  that  a lot  of  us  used to  sit on  to get some air in the summer  because  no one could  really  afford  air conditioning  back then bring  back great memories .

Of course ,  being  the  New Yorker  that I  am, it’s  all about  the  food.

They  even have  a Nathans  , just like the  ones you remember  going  to  in Brooklyn .

What would New York   New York  Hotel  be without  some authentic ,  sort of ,  pizza  parlors ?

This was comfort  food  to many a New York  school  kid, and it still is .

I might  be  in the  middle  of  the  desert ,  but  for  a  few  minutes   visiting  New York ,  New York  brought   me back to  those  memories  of  growing  up  in the  city .