12/2/21 Update
As I was finishing up this post I just found out an individual from Minnesota who attended tested positive for the new covid variant Omicron. As with Otakon, I got tested after I arrived home, and plan to do so again next week. AnimeNYC was already dealing with the Friday line fiasco and now this pops up. Ended up on the news and even trending on Twitter. Not the kind of publicity AnimeNYC wanted. Chances are, this person already had it before even attending the con. To anyone who attended make sure you get tested just to be safe.
Here’s my review of AnimeNYC with Pros and Cons. This was my first time going to the con.
Pros
Transportation
Getting to NYC from Philly was super easy using Amtrak. Once in NYC, it’s about a 10-minute walk from the train station to Javits Convention. It’s a huge building so you can’t miss it. If you get your train tickets early like I did it’s also cheap. I had a three-day pass so that meant 3 round-trip train rides. Each one was on time and had no issues.
Convention Center
Pretty big, not as big or roomy as Otakon however.
Cosplayers
Always great cosplayers at these events and even more since it’s a little over twice the size of Otakon.
Lighting For Photography
Most of the outer building is covered by glass windows so during the day you can get really great light for photos. The locations for photos inside the Javits are pretty good too.
Exhibition Hall
The Dealers room, big company Exhibitors like Crunchyroll, Aniplex, MiHoYo, the artist alley, autograph area, and the gaming room were all located in the same area /floor. Managed to get some nice artbooks and stickers. This was pretty convenient and easy……the first early hours of the con.
Panels
Just like the Exhibition Hall, all panels are on one floor at the same place which has both pros and cons. I didn’t get a chance to go to many of them, but I enjoyed the two I went to. The Guilty Gear Strive voice actors panel was great as was the AnimEigo panel (who knew these guys were still around?)
Cons
Friday Line Con and Dealing with Covid
Ok, I have to get the biggest con out the way first. While I did enjoy AnimeNYC overall, it got off to a really rough start on the first day. I got into line around 9:50 am. It was huge at the time and went past 2 blocks wrapped around and under the Javits Center. By 10:15 am it was steadily moving. Slowly, but it was moving. I managed to get in around 11:25 am so it was about an hour and 20+ minute wait. Not great but I could deal with it considering the number of people. I come to find out later I was one of the lucky ones.
As big as the line was when I was in it, it ballooned to an insane amount later in the day. Just go on social media and look up the various images and videos to see how bad it was. Even by 4:30 pm, I was still seeing a long line of people outside. A lot of people ended up spending a good chunk of the first day waiting in a line outside. I’ve read about people waiting 3-4 hours outside in packed lines unable to move, a near stampede when security decided to open the doors in another area, etc etc. Friday was kind of a hot mess entering the building and I’m glad I dodged a bullet by getting in line slightly earlier.
AnimeNYC staff wasn’t great either when it came to managing the line. You didn’t even know which one you were supposed to get into (I believe there were 3). No signs or staff to tell you where to go except at the very front of the line. So many people ended up in the wrong line for hours. Oh, and did I mention it was really cold and windy too? To AnimeNYC’s credit, they admitted their mistakes, improved the line system for Sat and Sun, and were even willing to give refunds especially to people who only had a 1 day Friday pass. This HAS to improve next year if they want to continue to grow, and not give attendees bad experiences.
Just like Otakon, most people were masked fully. However, it wasn’t really enforced much. Even a few AnimeNYC staff didn’t have masks on. There was a vaccine card check, but I didn’t put too much stock into it considering security wasn’t really doing a thorough id check. Also, they accepted anyone who had a single vaccine shot up to the same day of the con which…..isn’t really how vaccines work. (I was already fully vaccinated and got the booster shot 3 weeks before the convention). I understand that it’s difficult to keep on top of so many things like this especially with over 53,000 in attendance, but the higher-ups got to do a better job. Either hire more staff and security and make sure people follow the requirements and/or cap the attendance.
Exhibition Hall
Remember I said it was convenient to have all these places in one large area? Well, it only works if you don’t have as many people attending. Having Genshin Impact near the very front of the entrance and a bag check before you could enter didn’t help things either. There were sections that were wall-to-wall people and you could barely move, and for whatever reason, they didn’t spread it out more even though they had the space to do it. The videogame section was……small and disappointing almost like an afterthought. Otakon was way better at that.
Panel Floor
Same issue as above. When there’s a low amount of people it’s not too bad. But since it’s such a small area, it gets congested fast. I think this is the benefit of Otakon having such a large space. Having events and panel rooms scattered about and not in one place helps the flow of traffic and large waiting lines.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I really enjoyed AnimeNYC. It was nice to go to a different convention and get a totally different experience than I’m used to. But AnimeNYC is going through some growing pains. With it still being a newish convention it’s honestly amazing how big it is now (52,000 people in its 4th year?!). If you’re going to have that many people and possibly more in the next few years, they’re going to have to prepare for it properly, make necessary adjustments and improvements for the future. As far as I can tell this is the biggest anime convention on the east coast for now, and I want to see it succeed.
