Interview With AnimeNYC Founder and Director

Calling all anime fans! One of the largest anime conventions in the country is set to be held in New York City next month (no, not that New York convention). AnimeNYC will be held at the Javitz Center in Midtown Manhattan from November 18-20. We had the opportunity to talk to AnimeNYC’s founder and director, Peter Tartara, to get a sneak peek on what we can expect on the con floor.

About AnimeNYC

This year, AnimeNYC is celebrating its 5th anniversary. Founder and director Peter Tartara gave us a little more insight into the history of the convention:

We launched the event five years ago going now into our largest event ever with over 55,000. Fans coming from around New York and around the country.

This is our fifth live event. So we started it in 2017, ran up until COVID, took a year to go virtual and now back for our fifth year and very, very thrilled with that.

What to Expect

One of the headline guests fans can expect to see is Hajime Isayama, creator of Attack on Titan. AnimeNYC is Isayama’s first ever U.S. appearance. He will be at the convention on Friday and Saturday for autograph signings and panels.

Artist’s Alley is a must-see:

I take a lot of joy in our Artist Alley. So we’ve got about 350 artists in Artist Alley coming from across New York, across the US, as well as globally. Artists from Canada, from South America. Artists from Australia and from Europe are coming as well.

If you’re a cosplayer or just a fan of cosplay in general, then you don’t want to miss out on the cosplay competitions and meetups.

One of the most unique and exciting events is what Mr. Tartara called “the Japanese food hall”:

So right next, Artist’s Alley is a very large Japanese food hall where we’re working with very well known Japanese restaurants from across New York to serve all sorts of Japanese food, from an acclaimed ramen restaurant to takoyaki to to Japanese curry. So some amazing things. And if you’ve never had stuff like octopus balls or Japanese curry, like, it’s well worth the experience.

For more information about AnimeNYC, you can check out their website, as well as their Instagram and Twitter.

About Author

Jenna Wrenn

Host and executive producer of the Portrait of a Fangirl Podcast, Jenna Wrenn, is also an entertainment correspondent for Temple of Geek. Jenna has conducted interviews with talent such as Max Brooks, Christopher Paolini, Rachel Smythe, and Ashley Eckstein and has written several articles for Temple of Geek covering conventions, anime, pop culture, and much more.

A historian by trade, a writer by passion, and a cat mom by birthright. Jenna loves to travel, forge new connections, and cosplay. Jenna is excited to bring more fascinating interviews to viewers/listeners of the Portrait of a Fangirl podcast.

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