text: Opening and early years The ride, originally called the Manhattan Express, was built by Japanese roller coaster manufacturer TOGO. It was one of only two roller coasters in the world to feature a heartline roll and dive when it opened. The ride was conceived by Gary Primm, owner of Primadonna Resorts, which co-developed New York-New York. When groundbreaking ceremonies for New York-New York occurred in March 1995, a 180-foot-tall coaster was planned to be built along with the resort. The Elko Daily Free Press described the ride as a "Coney Island-style roller coaster", complementing the resort's replicas of major New York City attractions such as the Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Statue of Liberty. The ride cost $18 million to build, and it opened along with New York-New York on January 3, 1997.
  Within two months of its opening, 500,000 people had ridden the Manhattan Express. In March 1997, Clark County building officials shut down the Manhattan Express over safety issues, which the resort had failed to report to the county. Clark County officials issued five summonses to the resort's owners for violations of county building codes. The ride contained 250 steel tension rods, of which approximately 40 had snapped.  The resort was cited for continuing to operate the ride despite the breakages. Repairs were made, but the ride reopened and closed several times that month as more rods broke. The initial 40 broken rods had been replaced using stronger material, which strained the weaker rods and caused them to snap. The strain also created fine cracks in the coaster track.