Anime NYC Sets A New Low Bar For Line Cons

It isn’t often that I have to sit down to write a review for a convention experience but due to the one I had today, I needed to document it. With the recent pandemic, cons are only just starting to return and because of that, certain guidelines are in place for them to run. Depending on the state and city a con is held in, guidelines might be different for some and either have stricter enforcement of things like mask mandates or vaccination proof, or not, which is up to the convention to figure out and uphold. 

Friday at Anime NYC none of that was working out.

It’s understandable for a con after the pandemic to have many hiccups along the way when they return since it has new methods of allowing con-goers in. However, when said convention lays out their guidelines months in advance and doesn’t even follow them, there is a major problem. Anime NYC takes place in the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City this weekend and today attendees waited outside in grossly overcrowded and tightly squeezed crowds for up to four hours in 40-degree weather to enter a convention. The convention had lines coiling around buildings and in the streets without any staff present to direct traffic or keep any of the crowds safe. There were many who nearly were hit by cars, trucks and public transportation waiting on lines that were not being properly monitored because there were zero instructions on how to get into the convention. Unlike New York Comic Con which was in the same convention center only a month ago, Anime NYC didn’t separate their badge, vaccination check, bag check or badge will-call lines. Everything was one line and because of that there was severe overcrowding. Once near the Javits main building I only saw two staff members the whole time. When I inquired as to why the line was so long since they had been open for an hour already, they had no idea and had told me that they were there just to stand there and weren’t even given a way to communicate to other staff. 

After three hours of being on line con, the line started to thin out. Single-day Friday badge holders didn’t get to enter the convention at all due to the fiasco and many including someone near me on line had to leave before even getting a glimpse of the doors. When the line started to move faster, I saw a group of staff members standing doing nothing and inquired once more as to what happened. Staff was incredibly rude and dismissive, saying that it wasn’t their job and they weren’t the ones causing the line issues. However, when I tried to ask other AnimeNYC staff, they proceeded to blame the line and unsafe conditions on the Javits center staff, who when questioned, said it was the Anime NYC crew who was the cause. There was a lot of the blame game being played without any actual solution or proper information. 

During the line con there were two crowd rushes that caused the others in line waiting patiently to wait longer and staff didn’t assist at all to stop it, they were seen just watching it happen. Once we got near the staircase getting to the entrance, we were then sardined onto a staircase which was a severe hazard since we were stuck in the pitted line and the stairs and if something had happened there would be nowhere to go. When staff was told of this, they responded saying to get over it and it wasn’t their problem.

When I finally got inside, I noticed that the guidelines they had posted prior to the con were thrown out the window. Masks weren’t being enforced outside or inside the convention, vaccination card checks were done by having attendees simply wave them at the staffers doing the checking and there was no badge check. The only time I got my badge checked was when I tried to enter the dealer room for the short amount of time I was actually inside the convention before it closed and the staff was incredibly rude and yelling at people to show their badges and open their bags. 

The fact they weren’t truly checking vaccine cards was a very distressing red flag when the con was promoting how safe their guidelines were. The mask mandate wasn’t in full force when I walked around in areas without food which is the usual place to not be wearing a mask. Many were asking for refunds for their badges or selling them while they were online and due to Anime NYC’s no refund policy it looks like, unfortunately, Friday only pass holders might have wasted their day. 

What Saturday holds will be another story. At approximately 11 p.m. last night, Anime NYC posted a new plan for entrance lines and crowds, with just one line of the barest hint of an apology to Friday attendees at the end of the post. And while being very active on their social media about panels, they haven’t mentioned anything about the hazardous unsafe lack of covid compliance and mess of the day.