Nov. New York Custom Knife Show

I don't know how many would want to spend a weekend in the area and commute to Manhattan to partake of the city's offerings, only to have to commute back when they are done.
Click to expand...

Somebody could make a bundle with a shuttle bus.
I don't know about guiding a tour for a bunch of crazy knife people, though.
 
Given their gun laws I was surprised how relatively reasonable the knife laws seemed when I first started going to the NYC shows. But that was before this totally unrealistic redefining of what a gravity knife is.

Given the show has been shrinking in size for several years, I can't see how a move to the New Jersey backwoods is going to help it any.

Might be time to point out to a few hotels and restaurants in NYC how much their DA has cost them. He may not care but I bet they will.
 
Sidehill Gouger said:
1. Given the show has been shrinking in size for several years, I can't see how a move to the New Jersey backwoods is going to help it any.

2Might be time to point out to a few hotels and restaurants in NYC how much their DA has cost them. He may not care but I bet they will.
Click to expand...

1. I wouldn't exactly call it "Backwoods" :)
But it aint Manhattan.
You are right about the shrinking show size.
One of the reasons I'm not too bummed about missing this year.

2. Sorry but I don't think the restaurants and hotels will notice the difference.
With the dollar the way it is and the amount of tourism in Manhattan right now, those spots will be filled.
In the grand scheme of things I'd bet that the table fees are small potatoes as well.
I work in between Rock Center and Times Sq and trip over tons of tourists every day, all year round.
 
Ebbtide, working in Manhattan you should know as well as I do what the New York crowd thinks of the New Jersey side. As far they are concerned, the wilderness starts there. :) I was told as much just last week.

And of course, the rest of us tend to forget that $100,000+ in total hotel room fees and god only knows how much for the ball room plus restaurant and bar bills is just chump change to a New Yorker.

I happen to know that with many of the Broadway shows closed because none of those "tourists" you are mentioned seemed to be going to the plays, a lot of restaurants in that area are not doing so well. But I guess they don't need my small offerings.
 
The World As Seen From New York's 9th Avenue
By Saul Steinberg

newyorker2.jpg
 
Actually, I am a native NYer who has been living in NJ for years now. Anyone in NYC who looks down on NJ is showing their own insecurity. Personally, since the City turned into Mayor Mike's very own nanny state, I'm real uncomfortable going back.

That magazine cover dates from a week before I moved from the Bronx back into Manhattan, where I stayed for the next 20 years. Good times, once upon a time.
 
And just for the record, Esav knows I'm kidding.
;) :D
I forget that others may not...

Oh, and the B'Way plays?
Maybe it's because they suck or because they are so darn expensive.
Or both.
But the line is always long at TKTS when I walk by.
 
One thing about the move from New York to NJ is the answer to a few simple questions for those of you who live in the area.

How important is it for you to have a knife show in your area?

Is it important for you to be able to handle a knife and feel the balance?

Is it important for you to get to know a maker face to face, to shake his hand, to get instant reactions to your questions, and be able to see the facial changes and body language that comes from human interaction?

Is it important to be able to meet some well known makers and view their work--even though that work may be far out of your price range?

Is it important to be able to spend less than a couple of hours traveling to a show--without having to get on a plane?

If none of the above is important--if you don't enjoy any of the above--then you don't need to go to the show. You can just stay home, go to no effort, satisfy all of your knife pursuits via the internet. If a knife show in your area is not important to you, then stay home. And if enough people do that, then the show will go away. But then it didn't matter to you to begin with, did it?

On the other hand, if a local knife show of national stature is important to you, if it is something you might ever want to attend, then support it. Get off your lazy butt and make a little bit of effort to go support the show and the makers attending it. If you don't, there will come a time in which you cannot, because the show will close or move when people stop supporting it.

Come to think of it, this last paragraph applies to wherever you live. If you have a local show--support it--or watch it go away.
 
TennKnifeman said:
One thing about the move from New York to NJ is the answer to a few simple questions for those of you who live in the area.

How important is it for you to have a knife show in your area?

Is it important for you to be able to handle a knife and feel the balance?

Is it important for you to get to know a maker face to face, to shake his hand, to get instant reactions to your questions, and be able to see the facial changes and body language that comes from human interaction?

Is it important to be able to meet some well known makers and view their work--even though that work may be far out of your price range?

Is it important to be able to spend less than a couple of hours traveling to a show--without having to get on a plane?

If none of the above is important--if you don't enjoy any of the above--then you don't need to go to the show. You can just stay home, go to no effort, satisfy all of your knife pursuits via the internet. If a knife show in your area is not important to you, then stay home. And if enough people do that, then the show will go away. But then it didn't matter to you to begin with, did it?

On the other hand, if a local knife show of national stature is important to you, if it is something you might ever want to attend, then support it. Get off your lazy butt and make a little bit of effort to go support the show and the makers attending it. If you don't, there will come a time in which you cannot, because the show will close or move when people stop supporting it.

Come to think of it, this last paragraph applies to wherever you live. If you have a local show--support it--or watch it go away.
Click to expand...

Excellent post, Bruce!


Ron LaBella
 
That makes good sense if you live in the NY/NJ area, but for those of us that have to travel long distances at fair expense, a show needs to offer more than 75-100 tables of makers. Like the sights and sounds of mid-town Manhattan once a year. I normally have a long list of things to do outside the knife show. Last year it was the Japanese arms and armor exhibit at the Met art museum. That is the big draw for the NY custom show for out of towners. Otherwise, just go to the Blade show and cover all the same bases.

Are you going to NJ this year Bruce?
 
For those who need the sounds and lights of Manhattan, when the show is over, drive through the tunnel, and you are there. It's not like it's far away.

Whether or not people like us can make a financial dent in NYC, or whether or not the DA even notices, it's the principle.
 
So are you going Shaldag?

If the thousands of dollars spent by those setting up and those attending this show doesn't impress NYC, we have lost the battle. Money and the lifestyle it buys is the only thing that impresses NYC. You are never going to sell anything thing to them on 2nd Amendment rights, they gave those up 100 years ago to a guy named Sullivan. Saying you have a right to keep and bear arms is equally telling them they were correct, Husky box cutters are weapons!
 
Sidehill Gouger said:
So are you going Shaldag?
Click to expand...

You gonna help shaldag with the plane fare from Israel? :)

If the thousands of dollars spent by those setting up and those attending this show doesn't impress NYC, we have lost the battle. Money and the lifestyle it buys is the only thing that impresses NYC.
Click to expand...

It takes more than money to impress the ones making these decisions. First of all, it takes a lot of publicity to leverage the money of other sympathetic groups. Second, even that ignores that the politicians who decide are mostly immune from voter pressure. This DA is party nobility -- look who his father is, they are connected. He gets elected by getting on the ticket. Third, he's on a crusade. He thinks offending us looks good on his record.

How about the NYC sports teams that moved to NJ? Did every one of their fans stay home, or take the ride across the river?
 
It is DEFINITELY true that show is shrinking, years ago it mas mind boggling... It keeps getting smaller and smaller. Maybe, with this change of venue (as well as prices for tables and rooms) lower $ differences, it can recover. We all need to actually go instead of complaining on the internet, though!

I will still see you all there and buy the first round. Come on up to me and shake my hand.

Ron LaBella
 
How is this "deferred prosecution for donations" scheme that Vance is running that much different than what old Blago was doing in Illinois? The strikes me as being less about law enforcement and more about getting press coverage. I find it interesting that he basically ignores the definition of "switchblade" and 'gravity knife" that the Feds have set out. The guys from the NYC area are right in that the people who vote for guys like Vance and President For Life Bloomberg and actually pay attention to what is going on in their city don't give a rodent's rectum about us or about the New York shows. For them, it is more like good riddance to a bunch of knife packing Neanderthals. By the way, how is Vance considered to be "poltical nobility?" His father was a boob who worked for the greatest boob of all time, Jimmy Carter.:D The ironic part is that the shows are apparenlty being welcomed by Jersey, which, as I understand, has some of the most draconian state weapons laws in the country. At what point will the New York Knife Show have to be moved to Pennsylvania or Ohio? LOL
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top