Pizza is universally loved. And pizza holds a serious cultural position in the United States in particular. It is not rare to meet someone in America who has a testimony to the superiority of a small mom-and-pop hole-in-the-wall joint back in one of New York City's five Burroughs. New York pizza is the standard by which pizza is judged. Chicago style is also important, but does not hold the prestige of a NY pie.
Vegas is a city with deep New York ties. Most of Las Vegas's Founding Fathers had deep ties to the New York mafia. Hoping for a baptism and a fresh start in this faraway desert, gangsters often demanded that if they were forced to live in this arid wasteland, at least they should be provided with their creature comforts: a Maria Callas recording, a fine chianti, and maybe a pizza pie.
But the crime bosses at La Cosa Nostra were having none of it. The bosses were nervous Italian culture was becoming watered-down and too Americanized. They issued an edict in 1952 that made it a crime punishable by death to make an authentic NY pie west of Cincinnati. Sinatra and Dino would have to endure their forsaken oasis without the cuisine they loved. But happily they were not barred from showgirls, booze, or gambling.
Vegas Italian food suffered (see Battista's Hole in the Wall).
Finally, the edict was lifted shortly after Gotti was imprisoned for life. Broadway Pizzeria on Rancho and Charleston opened 90 days later. Happiness ensued.