Released in 1989, NYC collects previously unreleased recordings made by The Velvet Underground at Record Plant Studios in New York between May and October 1969. The album offers a rare glimpse into material originally intended for the band's unfinished fourth studio album.

While the front cover revisits the iconic banana motif associated with Andy Warhol and the band, the reverse side features a reproduction of Ambulance Disaster (1963), one of the works from Warhol's renowned Death and Disaster series. By combining references to two very different periods of Warhol's career, the release demonstrates the enduring connection between the artist and one of the most influential bands of the twentieth century.