Anime NYC 2023: How It Started, Where It’s Headed
Anime NYC returned to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City for its sixth annual convention on November 17-19 this year, drawing 60,000 attendees, according to an email from the convention.
Instead of dedicating an entire article to what was going on at the convention this year as I usually would, I’ll also be talking about the past and the future of the convention, as I believe this year will sort of mark the “end of act 1” of Anime NYC. As I’ve attended the convention for several years now, along with the fact that we already have some information on next year’s convention (which includes some major changes), this feels like a great time to tell the story of Anime NYC up until now.
Anime NYC was inaugurated in November 2017, coming out of the gate strong with over 20,000 in attendance, selling out both Saturday and multi-day tickets. There was plenty of breathing room with the amount of space the convention had allocated in the venue, and the event had generally great reception from those in attendance. Not long after the convention, the organizers mentioned plans to expand the convention and bring in even more fans the following year.
In 2018 their plans proved to be successful, bringing in around 36,000 attendees to the show, and expanding their occupancy of the Javits Center to 350,000 square feet. The only notable issue that I recall at the convention that year was the longer than expected wait time to get onto the show floor on Friday morning. The organizers developed and implemented a plan to admit people in a more timely manner, and the issue was resolved for the remaining days of the event. All said, it was another great year for the convention, which seemed like it would only get bigger and better in the future.
The convention did indeed get bigger next year, bringing in around 10,000 more attendees than in 2018, along with an expansion of over 75,000 additional square feet of space used for the convention in comparison to the previous year. Bigger is not always necessarily better, however, as the Anime NYC showed some growing pains in 2019. At times, certain parts of the venue felt just as packed as the much larger New York Comic Con, and it became overwhelming and a bit uncomfortable at times. Although I wasn’t crossing the event off my list to attend in the future, there were definitely some kinks that needed to be worked out to ensure a smooth-running show.
It probably goes without saying, but there was no convention in 2020 due to the pandemic. The convention would return in 2021, with proof of at least partial vaccination for COVID-19 being required for admittance, and face coverings being mandatory while in attendance. I did not attend that year, but fellow Nerd Caliber contributor Christina Sciorilli did, and the shit sure hit the fan that year, with reports of attendees waiting 3-4 hours to get into the building on Friday. In fairness, I should mention that Anime NYC issued refunds to those that requested, which included not only single-day Friday badge holders, but also full refunds to multi-day badge holders. That was about as much as the organizers could do to make amends for what occurred, but the deed was done. Personally, my estimation of Anime NYC’s management team as competent convention organizers had just plummeted. (Shoutout to anyone that recognized my Sopranos reference there).
I again did not attend Anime NYC in 2022, and we don’t have any articles here on the site regarding that year. Attendance had risen to around 55,000 that year, with all tickets being sold out prior to the convention. I’m not aware of any major issues being reported, so it’s likely that things were more or less back to normal.
This brings us to this year, which was my first time attending the event since 2019. Although my original plans to work with another team member were canceled, I decided to still press on and attend the convention for a few hours on Saturday. That being the case, I won’t have a thoroughly detailed assessment of the convention as I would if I had attended it for the entire duration, but I’ll briefly discuss the things that stood out to me this year.
Anime NYC has shuffled around the places where some features of the con are located throughout the years. The third floor of the Javits has always been where the main show/expo floor has been located. This year, the gaming area, artist’s alley, and autographing area were all located on that floor as well. If you look at this floor on a map of the Javits, you may get the impression that these are all separate rooms on the third floor, as it labels areas there as 3A – 3E. However, this was all together in one big ol’ room at Anime NYC. It seemed a bit odd to me having all of that together in one space, but I can’t say I’m aware of any specific problems this caused. The floor did get quite congested with attendee traffic in some places, but fortunately that wasn’t the case for the entire area.
In my article from 2019 I mentioned that there were problems associated with the cosplay photoshoot/meetups, with scheduling issues and insufficient space for all the meetups being held simultaneously, which led to extreme overcrowding in the area at peak times. This year, these meetups were held in the area just inside the entrance to the building in the area called the Crystal Palace. There were two spots in this area, side by side, designated for these meetups. While the scheduling issues seemed to be resolved, with only one meetup in each spot scheduled per hour, the location still seemed less than ideal. I did not notice any problems during the brief time I was in the area, but I believe there could be overcrowding in the area if two meetups with very large fandoms are held at the same time.
Real changes, possible futures
Now, what does the future hold for Anime NYC? Just prior to this year’s convention, Anime NYC made posts across social media which revealed some very significant changes coming to the event in 2024.
Next year’s convention dates will be August 23-25, 2024. The convention has previously always been held during the fall in mid-November, so the move to a summertime date is a fairly major change, and one that I’d consider to be positive. Unless it’s unbearably hot, there will likely be many people hanging out outside in the courtyard and vaunted “cosplay photo tunnel” area. This will make the convention area itself a bit less crowded, and will of course serve as a nice area away from the crowds for photography. Another positive change pertaining to photography is that the sun will be setting much later in the day, as the change from November to August will give us a whopping three extra hours of daylight in the evening.
The other major change coming next year is that Anime NYC will be using the full main building of the Javits. Anime NYC said in a follow-up email that it will be utilizing everything other than the recent addition of the North building for next year’s show. This will be an increase of around 250K sq.ft. in comparison to this year’s show. So, the expansion will be very significant, and the convention organizers are promising a lot more of everything in the future. Their announcement post stated there will be more tickets available (including the much sought after weekend tickets), more panels, more features as well as expansions to current ones, and much more.
There are, however, concerns some fans have voiced regarding the date change. The heat is one concern, as it is unknown if the Javits Center’s air conditioning will be adequate to keep the tens of thousands in attendance cool in August. Another question is whether badge prices will be raised for next year. The cost of a single-day badge for Anime NYC is currently almost identical to the price of a single-day badge for the much larger New York Comic Con, and if the organizers raise the price even higher, I believe they would be shooting themselves in the foot and stunting the potential growth of the convention.
All said, despite the missteps that have been made so far in the history of Anime NYC, I have high hopes for the convention with the changes coming next year. Here’s hoping for a smooth and enjoyable experience next August!
Cosplayers in the linked gallery below include midnairl, krissyvictoryy, juiceman_cosplay, sammyxtorres18, abigaiil.morris, overpowered.otter, yesnyc, saturn111an, pixiekilla_, and more.
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