The NCAR urbanization-group version of WRF, coupled with the Martilli multi-layer urban canopy scheme and a building energy model (BEM), simulated the evolution of the summer 2010 three-day heat wave in NYC, as well as its interaction with the city's urban heat island (UHI). Its urban parameterization considers direct (thermal and mechanical) urban effects on the PBL, while its building-energy module accounts for anthropogenic-heat exchange to and from buildings represented by high resolution (250 m) urban canopy parameters from the National Urban Database. Simulated results (with an inner horizontal grid-resolution of 1 km) were evaluated using data from a dense network (over Manhattan and its surroundings) comprised of surface weather stations, wind profilers, and a Lidar. The thermal and drag effects of buildings, represented in the WRF multilayer urban canopy model, better estimated surface temperatures and wind speeds over NYC. Simulations represented boundary layer wind direction accurately with underestimated magnitude, when compared with vertical profilers, capturing an observed nocturnal urban low level jet. The heat release into the atmosphere from buildings in highly urbanized areas of the city reached 90 W/m2 at the time of maximum temperatures, with peak releases over midtown and downtown Manhattan. WRF accurately represented the NYC nocturnal UHI, which raised the already high nocturnal regional temperatures of 85ºF by an additional 7ºF.