Annual anime convention in New York City, US
Anime NYC is an annual three-day anime convention held during August at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City.[5][6]
Programming
The convention typically offers arcade games, an artist alley, concerts, manga library (Carolina Manga Library), masquerade, panels, screenings, vendors, and video and card games.[7][8][9] Anime NYC offered 100 hours of programming in 2017.[2][10]
History
Anime NYC's organizer LeftField Media was founded by the creators of New York Comic Con, and also run Washington DC's Awesome Con.[1][11][12] New York was chosen for the event due to its lack of a large anime convention.[13] The first Anime NYC took over a year to plan and used two halls in the convention center.[2][6] In the convention's first year, they did not use the amount of space used by New York Comic Con.[9][14] New York City declared an Anime NYC Weekend for the 2017 convention.[14] Anime NYC added more floor space in 2018, with additional expansion planned in 2019.[7] The convention also hosted Anisong World Matsuri at the Hammerstein Ballroom.[13]
In 2019, Anime NYC used all of the Javits main event space, but did share some of the venue with a chocolate event.[15][16] Artists alley was moved into the dealer's hall, which was doubled in size.[17] New York City Councilmen Ben Kallos and Kanji Yamanouchi, Japan's UN representative both attended the event.[18] Anime NYC 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[19][20][21] A virtual event was hosted by Anime NYC and NTWRK from November 17–20, 2020 as the convention's replacement.[22]
The event returned for 2021, with all attendees required to present proof of at least partial vaccination for COVID-19 or a valid medical exemption (as required under the Key to NYC Pass health order) and wear a face covering.[23][24][25] The convention sold out of several badge tiers prior to the event occurring and the Artists Alley was located in its own space for the first time.[23][26] Registration had long wait times on Friday, with the line being several blocks long, due to a significant number of attendees arriving early.[23][26][27] The event made entrance changes for Saturday and Sunday that largely resolved the line issues.[26]
On December 2, 2021, Anime NYC received national media attention after reports of attendees that had tested positive for the newly-discovered Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 (including one that was only the second confirmed case in the United States); the variant was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) four days after the convention had concluded, leading to discussions over how long the variant had spread in the U.S. prior to its formal designation as a variant of concern, and if there had been further spread at the event.[28][29] All attendees were urged to receive COVID-19 testing;[30] research by the CDC published in February 2022 found that the combination of "multiple, simultaneous prevention measures" resulted in a low level of transmission, reporting a positivity rate of 2.6% (119 positive cases) out of 4,560 attendees tested.[31][32][33][34]
Anime NYC in 2022 continued to have COVID-19 policy that required vaccination or testing.[35] A vendor was injured during load out at the end of the convention, and required hospitalization.[36] In 2024, the convention will move to August and use the full main building of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.[37] This will be an increase of around 250,000 square feet in comparison to the 2023 event.[38]
