"Theme from New York, New York," which is often shortened to "New York, New York," is the main song from the 1977 Martin Scorsese musical film New York, New York. It was written by John Kander and Fred Ebb. Liza Minnelli sings the song during the film's final scene. The song was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Two years later, Frank Sinatra sang the song. It became strongly associated with him and New York City.

History

Composers John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb credited Robert De Niro with helping the song become successful. De Niro said the original theme for the film New York, New York was "too weak" and refused to use it. Kander and Ebb were asked to write a few songs for the film. After completing the songs, they played them for Martin Scorsese, Liza Minnelli, and De Niro. Following the performance, De Niro spoke privately with Scorsese and convinced him that the title song needed to be stronger.

The original lyrics began with the line, "They always say it's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live here." The melody of the discarded song was completely different. Kander and Ebb created a replacement song quickly and with strong emotions. The new song, "Theme from New York, New York," starts with a musical technique called a vamp, which Kander developed by using a repeated note beneath the melody, a style inspired by ragtime music. A recording of Liza Minnelli performing the song was released as a single from the film's soundtrack album and reached number 104 on the Billboard chart.

Frank Sinatra version

Frank Military, who worked with Frank Sinatra for many years, was skilled at selecting songs for him. He sent Sinatra a recording of "New York, New York" and often asked his secretary if he had listened to it. Sinatra later gave the sheet music to his pianist, Vinnie Falcone. In October 1978, he began performing the song in a medley with "New York, New York" from the 1944 musical "On the Town."

Sinatra hired Don Costa to create a medley of "Autumn in New York," "The Sidewalks of New York," and "Theme from New York, New York" as an overture for his performances, entering with Kander's vamp. Audiences loved "New York, New York" so much that Sinatra moved it later in his set, which he closed with "My Way." Through these performances, Sinatra developed the long rallentando that became famous in his version of the song. By 1980, "New York, New York" was the final song in his performances.

Sinatra recorded the song for his triple album "Trilogy: Past, Present, Future" (1980), and it is often considered his signature song. Don Costa received a Grammy nomination for the lively orchestration. Sinatra sometimes performed the song live with Minnelli as a duet. Minnelli, who knew Sinatra since childhood, called him "Uncle Frank," and she joked that his signature song was written for her.

Sinatra's recording reached number 32 on June 14, 1980, becoming his last Top 40 hit. It was also an Adult Contemporary hit, reaching number 10 in the U.S. and number 2 in Canada. In Mexico, it reached number 1 on Notitas Musicales' Hit Parade chart in December 1981, staying there for three fortnights. The song had a minor showing in the UK (number 59) but later reached number 4 in 1986. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male.

Sinatra made two more studio recordings of the song in 1981 (for his NBC TV special "The Man and His Music") and 1

Lyrics

The first two lines of the song are:

The song ends with the lines:

Minnelli's original recording of the song (also used in the Tony Bennett version in Duets) includes the following closing line:

Frank Sinatra changed some of Ebb's lyrics during the recording process, possibly by mistake. In the important part of the song, Ebb's original list of special titles is: "king of the hill, head of the list, cream of the crop, and the top of the heap," which rhymes with "the city that doesn't sleep." Sinatra changed the titles to: "A-number-one, top of the list, king of the hill, A-number-one." Ebb was not happy with the change but was very thankful to Sinatra for helping the song become a very popular hit.

Legacy

The song has become a symbol of celebration for New York City and is often played at social events such as weddings and bar mitzvahs. Many sports teams in New York City have used this song in their arenas and stadiums, with the New York Yankees being the most well-known example. Since July 1980, the song has been played over loudspeakers at both the original and current Yankee Stadiums after every Yankees home game. Originally, Frank Sinatra’s version was played after a Yankees win, and Liza Minnelli’s version was played after a loss. However, due to a complaint from Minnelli, Sinatra’s version was played regardless of the game’s outcome until the 2025 season. At that time, the Yankees stopped using Sinatra’s version after home losses and began rotating different songs instead.

By the mid-1980s, the song became very common as the theme in commercials for Kraft’s Philadelphia Cream Cheese.

While working on the soundtrack for the movie Highlander, director Russell Mulcahy asked Freddie Mercury of Queen to record “New York, New York.” Mercury agreed, and his 30-second performance appears in the film just before the climax.

Liza Minnelli performed the song live during the July 4, 1986 ceremony marking the rededication of the Statue of Liberty after renovations. She also performed it on September 21, 2001, at Shea Stadium during the seventh-inning stretch of a Mets game. This was the first game in New York after the attacks on the World Trade Center. The Mets won the game with a dramatic home run by Mike Piazza. This game is known as the “9/11 game.”

In 2004, “New York, New York” ranked #31 on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Songs list of top tunes in American cinema.

In the 2005 Arrested Development episode “Queen for a Day,” a character named Tobias Fünke begins singing the song in front of Liza Minnelli’s character, Lucille Austero. This causes Lucille to roll her eyes and complain that “everyone thinks they’re Frank Sinatra.”

From the 2005 season until 2020, the Sinatra version of the song was played after every Staten Island Yankees game at the Richmond County Bank Ballpark, regardless of the game’s outcome. It was also previously played at Shea Stadium after New York Mets games following the September 11, 2001 attack. Before that, some Mets fans disliked the song, believing it was a “Yankee song,” and booed it when it was played. The song first appeared in snippets after World Series home runs by Ray Knight and Darryl Strawberry during Game 7 of the 1986 World Series. It is sometimes played at New York Knicks games and at the end of every New York Rangers game at Madison Square Garden. The song was also played at the opening faceoff of Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Final at the Garden.

The song has also been the post-parade song for the Belmont Stakes from 1997 to 2009 and again since 2011. Sinatra’s version of the song has been played at the end of all four Super Bowls that the New York Giants have won so far. It was also played before kickoff of Super Bowl XLVIII. Minnelli’s version was played after the Giants’ Super Bowl XXXV loss. After the New York Liberty won the 2024 WNBA Finals, Nike created an advertisement featuring the Statue of Liberty with the song playing in the background.

In 2013, Frank Sinatra’s 1979 recording of the song was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame.

The song served as the musical basis for Jimmy Picker’s 1983 animated short film Sundae in New York, which won an Oscar for Best Short Film (Animated) that year. The film included a likeness of then-mayor Ed Koch, who struggled through the song with clay caricatures of New York-based celebrities, including Alfred E. Neuman. The film ended with Koch saying, “Basically, I think New York is very therapeutic. Hey, an apple a day is… uh… great for one’s constitution!” and burying his face in a banana split with “THE END” written on his bald head. Koch used the same musical style as Sinatra’s version, but he added a line mimicking Groucho Marx: “A-number one, top of the list, king of the hill… and incidentally a heckuva nice guy!” In 2013, an organist played “New York, New York” as the final song at Koch’s funeral.

Parodies

• In 1985, the Swedish comedy group Galenskaparna och After Shave created a version of the song called "Borås, Borås," which is about Borås, a place in Sweden known for mail order shopping.
• In the 2006 movie The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, Martin Short performed a parody of the song titled "North Pole, North Pole."
• On June 10, 2014, Stephen Colbert sang a parody of the song on The Colbert Report. His version made fun of a bet between New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and California Governor Jerry Brown about the outcome of a hockey game between the New York Rangers and the Los Angeles Kings.
• In 2015, the professional wrestling team The New Day performed a parody of the song on WWE Raw the night after they won a competition called the Tag Team Championships at an event called SummerSlam, which took place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
• Michael Feinstein often performs funny versions of the song in his concerts, expressing his dislike for the original.
• The animated TV show The Simpsons has used parodies of the song in several episodes. In the 1990 episode "Dancin' Homer," the song "Capital City" was performed by Tony Bennett. This song is about the state capital of the unnamed state where the Simpson family lives. In the 2019 episode "D'oh Canada," the song was parodied as "Upstate New York," a song about the northern part of New York State, performed by Homer Simpson.
• A Jewish comedy group called Rechnitzer Rejects recorded a version of the song in Yiddish, a language spoken by some Jewish people, and named it "Boro Park."
• In a French TV show called Les Guignols, the song was parodied in a skit about Osama bin Laden.
• In 2019, YouTuber and actress Liza Koshy created a version of the song as an unofficial anthem for the Dollar Store. The video was filmed in a store called 99 Cents Only Stores, which is ironic because the song is about a place with low prices.