Review: 21066 New York City – The Big Apple from LEGO® Architecture

The latest set from LEGO® Architecture, 21066 New York City – The Big Apple continues The LEGO Group's enduring love of the city that never sleeps. Its simple colour palette does not mean there are no new elements: there are recolours to enjoy. Let's take a bite and see what's inside.

We were given this product by The LEGO Group; the author's opinions are their own.
This article contains affiliate links to LEGO.com; we may get a small commission if you purchase.

21066 New York City – The Big Apple

• Release date: 1 June 2026
• Pieces: 1465
• Ages: 18+

Price: 

• US$ 139.99 on LEGO.com US
• CA$ 199.99 on LEGO.com Canada
• GB£ 129.99 on LEGO.com UK
• AU$ 249.99 on LEGO.com Australia
• NZ$ 279.99 on LEGO.com New Zealand
• € 139,99 on LEGO.com Deutschland, Nederland, France, etc
• PLN 599.99 on LEGO.com Polska
• NOK 1899,90 on LEGO.com Norge
• DKK 1199.95 on LEGO.com Danmark

Other countries click here

 

New York, New York

The LEGO Group certainly seems to have an obsession with a few iconic cities; New York, London and Paris being the source of inspiration for many products. In terms of New York specifically, there have been at least a dozen sets with the most notable ones being 21028 New York City Skyline, 21042 Statue of Liberty and 40519 New York Postcard. The city's well-known landmarks like the Rockefeller Centre, Flatiron Building, UN Headquarters and the Guggenheim Museum have had at least one, if not more LEGO sets produced in their likeness.

The Big Apple

©1976 Ogilvy & Mather

This fruity nickname dates from the 1920s when the popularity of New York's horse racing scene meant the biggest prizes could be found there. A New York Telegraph journalist called his horse racing journal Around the Big Apple. Then in the 1930s, the New York jazz scene used the Big Apple nickname, and really popularised it more widely. In the 1970s, a huge advertising campaign encouraging tourism to the city used The Big Apple nickname and an apple logo to permanently cement the moniker.

Recolours

There are no new moulds in the set, so we can move straight on to recolours. 

• 6x +1 spare Roller Skate in Yellow (6601434 | 18747)
• 4x Food Ice Cream Scoops in Dark Bluish Gray (6601435 | 1887)
• 2x Slope Curved 1 x 12 x 1 2/3 with Cutouts in Black (6601431 | 7236)

• 8x Equipment Binoculars in White (6601430 | 30162)
• 1x Hair and Headdress, Spiked Tiara (Lady Liberty) in White (6628060 | 8172)
• 1x Weapon Sword / Foil / Épée in White (6605469 | 37846)
• 1x Wedge Curved 16 x 4 Triple without Inner Ridges in White (6601433 | 89680)
• 2x Slope Curved 1 x 12 x 1 2/3 with Cutouts in White (6605465 | 7236)

New print

There is only one new printed element in the set.

• 1x Tile 1 x 8 with White 'New York, New York' print in Black (6585142)

The new tile uses an italicised typeface – as did the January set 21064 Paris: City of Love – marking a departure from the regular corporate typeface used by earlier sets. Perhaps this freer style will only be used by this new "souvenir" style of LEGO Architecture set?

 The previous New York printed tile from set 21028 New York City was a 1x6 tile saying New York City.

• 9x  Tile 1 x 1 with White Star print in Black (6585143)

These elements have a new Element ID, but we believe they are the same as the 1x1 printed star tiles (6444525) in two retired sets: 21340 Tales of the Space Age and 43241 Rapunzel's Tower and the Snuggly Duckling Tavern.

Minifigure

Lady Liberty appears in the set as a minifigure.  She gets a white recolour of her hair and headwear (6628060 | 8172), while her white robe (6550856 | 36036) has appeared in three other sets. 

Rare elements

In one other set:

• 6x Brick 1 x 1 x 5 with Solid Stud in Dark Blue (6595205 | 2453)
• 4x Slope Curved 1 x 6 in White (6508986 | 6801)

 In three other sets:

• 2x  Brick Round 1 x 1 D. Tube with 45° Elbow and Axle Holes (Crossholes) at Each End in Black (6586225 | 7324)
• 1x  Hips and Legs Under Dress/Robe in White (6550856 | 36036)
• 1x Plate Special 1 x 2 with Angular Extension and Flexible White Tip in White (6601429 | 61406)

The build 

The base

Bag one constructs the base of the set which loosely depicts the shape of Manhattan Island, one of the five New York City boroughs.

The instructions point out that the coloured plates used to anchor the base on the underside are a nod to the subway system that runs beneath the streets. Just don't use it to work out your subway journey route!

Skyline and foreground

The next few bags build the main skyline buildings and structures in the background of the base.  

Some of the buildings are nondescript skyscrapers formed by stacks of profile bricks or grille bricks. The colours are a good way to provide depth: the tone darkens from light bluish grey to sand blue to dark bluish grey and then dark blue as you move backwards in the skyline. The arched bricks raise the skyline buildings, but also allow a little train to run underneath between the arches.

There's a bit more fun to be had constructing the specific buildings in the foreground, in particular the Guggenheim Museum at the bottom left and the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the right. The newly recoloured white binoculars (30162) form the columns of The Met, while the dark bluish grey ice cream scoops become shadowy trees in Central Park.

Big Apple

The apple itself is built using a mix of plates and tiles for the main central area and then smaller SNOT sections for the curves areas around the edges. Either white ice cream cones (11610) or a mix of the cones plus 2L bars with stop (78258) are used to attach the corner curves.

The resulting apple is indeed big, and nicely shaped. A lot of the elements in the set used for the apple backdrop, especially as it has a white outline to add depth and definition to the shape. 

One World Trade Center is the building attached directly to the apple; the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex following 9/11. 

The crescent moon can be altered to any phase of the moon cycle with a little change to the position of the black 3x3 round tile.

The apple slots into position on three LEGO® Technic axles, giving a sturdy attachment.  This is necessary for stability as the apple adds a fair weight to the rear of the model.

The final stage adds key structures: the Empire State Building, Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty, of course. This is the first recolour of Lady Liberty as she is usually depicted in sand green. It makes sense for the moonlight mood and she is still instantly recognisable with her headwear and torch all in white.

Just in case there are any doubts as the identification of various buildings, here's a labelled view!

Final build

The set is attractive, with the moonlight glow and the use of white to highlight the iconic buildings in the skyline.  

While I like the backdrop of the apple, a lot of elements are used to create it. This large background also seems to dilute this from being a LEGO Architecture set to a LEGO Art set, as with 21064 Paris – City of Love. I can imagine tourists buying this in a NY LEGO store as a memento of their trip, but I'm uncertain about its wider appeal. Time will tell...

At £129.99/ $139.99/ €139.99 for 1465 pieces, the price per piece comes out at 8.9p/ 9.6¢/ 9.6¢,  but there's not a huge amount of new elements to excite us here at New E. The new white binoculars, dark bluish grey ice cream scoops and yellow skates are good for microscale building and I have no doubt the larger 1x12 curves have been awaited in colours other than light bluish grey.

The stacked nature of Manhattan is reasonably represented although clearly a great deal of artistic license is used for the overall layout. As a build, there's not a lot of joy in stacking grey and sand blue bricks but I did like the smaller builds for The Met and Guggenheim museums and the angled Brooklyn Bridge. If you are a more traditional LEGO Architecture fan, I'm not sure those three structures justify getting the whole set.

Some may quite like the recoloured Lady Liberty, though...

US$139.99/ £129.99/ 139.99€/ AU$249.99

 

READ MORE: Review of the silver-tastic 75442 The Mandalorian's N-1 Starfighter™

 

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