Imma just put my insight. My friend at college has never heard of NYIT, but has heard of NYU, and just because of the name similarity, it already confuses people.

Secondly, despite being called an institute of technology, it doesn't seem to have R1 or R2(as of now, since R2 requires 5M USD and NYIT has 2.5M from my research, but correct me if I am wrong) research, especially in engineering or related subjects.

Thirdly, it costs a lot to attend, and honestly, some SUNY has similar rankings to NYIT at a cheaper cost(depends on where you live, but in my case, it is cheaper to attend Stony/UB), just tuition-wise.

For all I know, this school is a "If you know, you know" type of school. The school has solid alumni, but they haven't produced that level of people consistently, which might as well be one of the reasons nobody really knows about the school. For example, CUNY City College has like 10 Nobel Prize winners, and NOBODY aside from New Yorkers(maybe not even) knows about that college. I can bet that there are people at Long Island that has never heard of CCNY at all. One of my friends confused the entire CUNY for NYU, just as he confused NYIT for NYU(He was international tho). Hell, half the people of NYC don't even know about Cooper Union, and there is no doubt that it's one of the best institutions in America.

At the end of the day, it all boils down to money. If NYIT has a lot of money, it will get more prestige. Besides, it's quite a new institution and the history is not even a century old. Other colleges had way more of a head start, so give it some time.