A Reply and an Apology to Neil Kleid, et al

On his blog, Neil Kleid posted an open letter to, well me, but really NYCC management about the fact that this year the con falls on Passover. This is a point that we are not happy about, but felt was almost completely unavoidable. You can read Neil's entire letter here (including comments). I'll post my reply below to save space, but please read Neil's letter, it's well written, fair and articulate......

Dear Neil,

Thanks for the open letter, my name is Lance Fensterman, and I run New York ComicCon. Needless to say, I'm none too happy about the Passover situation either, so let's get that out of the way right off the bat - we are really sorry about this and certainly intended no disrespect towards anyone. The unfortunate reality is that these were the dates we were given at the Javits Center. Javits is unlike most places in that the demand for the space far outstrips the availability, so customers, such as NYCC, are left with little to no choice as to what dates we are given.

While this is not an excuse, we took the April dates because we thought they were the best dates we had to pick from, which is to say the only dates we had to pick from! Our other choice was to be in February in space that we have already outgrown (the show will almost double in size form 07 to 08), April, or skip a year. We made the “best” of the poor choices we had. We completely regret that they fall on Passover but I hope it is accepted that this is not out of a lack of respect or concern to the fans, creators, exhibitors or anyone else associated with the con. I totally understand how you might feel "insulted", but this decision was not made out of malice towards you or people of the Jewish faith.

Again, I'm really sorry for the situation and so sorry that you and other observing Jews may not be at NYCC this year ... this fact brings me absolutely no joy....

Lance Fensterman
Con Director
New York ComicCon