The fifth ship in the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, is the sixth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the state of New York. The ship was designed to deliver a fully-equipped battalion of 700 Marines.

The ship is the first to be fully designed from the CAD-screen up to support all three of the Marines' primary mobility capabilities—Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV), Landing Craft, Landing Craft Air Cushioned vehicle and the MV-22 Osprey.

Shortly after 11 September 2001, Governor of New York George E. Pataki wrote a letter to Secretary of the Navy Gordon England requesting that the Navy bestow the name USS New York on a surface warship involved in the War on Terror in honor of September 11's victims. In his letter, the Governor said he understood state names are currently reserved for submarines, but asked for special consideration so the name could be given to a surface ship. The request was approved 28 August 2002.

Coincidentally, a previous holder of the name, USS New York (BB-34), had its keel laid on 11 September 1911, exactly 90 years to the day before the World Trade Center was attacked.

Twenty-four tons of the steel used in its construction came from the rubble from the World Trade Center, aside from a small amount preserved for posterity. Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down at Amite Foundry and Machine in Amite, Louisiana to cast the ship's bow section. It was poured into the molds on 9 September 2003. With seven tons melted down and cast to form the ship's "stem bar"—part of the ship's bow. The shipyard workers reportedly treated it with "reverence usually accorded to religious relics", gently touching it as they walked by. One worker actually delayed his retirement after 40 years work in order to be a part of the project