NYIAS: Mooks With Microphones, Parties, Socialites, Oh, My!

Well, it only took me a week, but I’ve recovered enough from my trip to the New York International Auto Show to write about it. There were so many dinners, galas, preveals, private events, blah blah blah that I can barely remember them all. Here are my impressions of the show in my best BuzzFeed listicle format.

• There  were entirely too many people at the Auto Show. Everybody on the floor of the Javits Center is required to have a lanyard around his neck with his name and media outlet attached on a badge. I started playing a game called “Do You Recognize That Media Outlet” at the show as I passed by people. I would conservatively say that I recognized maybe one out of forty. Every time I wanted to look at a car, I had somebody screaming at me to get out of his shot while some mook with a microphone stood there wearing pleated pants and talking about the “AMAZING NEW MODEL,” all while moving his hands way, way too much. There simply cannot be that much demand for video content on the internet—especially not bad video content. Detroit seems much better at limiting the attendees for the press days. Here’s a hint—if you want a badge to the New York International Auto Show in 2017, all you have to do is contact them and ask for one. It’s that simple. Maybe it shouldn’t be.
• The exclusive parties aren’t that exclusive. I didn’t have invites to most of the events in NY. I went anyway. I showed up wearing a suit and tie, gave them my name, and expected to be admitted. This worked everywhere.  All you have to do is find out where the parties are. The rest is up to you to be able to finagle your way in. Sure, a lot of people in automotive PR know who I am, but there are probably more who don’t. Didn’t keep me from getting in. The one party that did require an invitation (and for which I was especially pleased to receive an invitation), however, was the Jalopnik/Kotaku Mario Kart party at Gawker HQ. I had a wonderful time hanging out with Matt, Patrick, Raphael, Ballaban, and Roselli. Matt even let me act as the fill-in race announcer when he was doing his Mario Kart battle, only briefly taking the mic from me when I promised to offend women and minorities.
• The show is less about seeing the cars and more about being seen. I remember my first visit to the show a couple of years ago, when I clung to my brother’s coattails and begged to be introduced to the people in the PR and Press biz that mattered. This year, it was quite a reversal. As I sat at the bar at the Porsche event, a whole host of people came up and introduced themselves to me. Same thing happened at the premiere for APEX. Little old Mark Baruth from Winchester, Kentucky. People tried to network with me as best as they could, mentioning their impressive portfolios of work. There was one particular individual I couldn’t shake, no matter where I went. Although I admit that I was pleased with myself for being relatively well known, I was more amazed at the constant hustle displayed by some of the people there. I saw a lot of the same people at the parties throughout the week, all doing their best to move up the automotive journalism ladder—or, in some cases, get back on it after being laid off/fired. I was just happy to see my buds from R&T, TTAC, and Jalopnik. Speaking of which…

• I’m part of the “old guard” now. I don’t know when it happened, but it did. I’m 38, and I’m an old man in this business. The truly exciting work is being done by people a decade my junior, and I think it’s wonderful. I love the passion that I see from people like Travis Okulski, Raphael Orlove, Kristen Lee, etc. I think the business is in good hands. 
• I love New York. I just do. I know I would never want to raise my children there, but damn if it doesn’t feel like home. I love the hustle and bustle, the option to do pretty much anything you want at any time of day (provided that you’re willing to wait to do it), the music, the food, the art…everything. Our Airbnb that I shared with fellow TTACers Bozi Tatarevic and Chris Tonn was a delightful oasis in the middle of Brooklyn, a million-dollar home that we rented for less than the cost of a tiny Manhattan hotel room. I am already plotting ways to get back there again. 
• The cars were just not that exciting. I know that everybody absolutely has to put together a “TOP TEN” list from the show, but I can’t even think of three cars that I was excited about seeing, much less a Top Ten. Of course, the MX-5 RF was a hit, and the Genesis New York Concept looked brilliant (I think they should just call it the New York if they ever launch it. Why not?), but everything else? Meh. I can’t get that excited about the forty-seven different variants that Mercedes-Benz is making nowadays. The Lincoln Navigator concept was neat, but we all know that none of that shit is going to make it to market. The Ford GT was still the coolest car on display at the show, and that’s a year old now.
• One World Trade Center is gorgeous. On my last day in the city, I took the opportunity to go up to the observation deck of One World Trade Center and have a drink in their restaurant, overlooking the five boroughs. I lucked out because the ticket sellers were saying that visibility was zero, due to clouds in the area, so the crowds were light. However, when I made the ascent up 102 floors, it was clear as far as the eye could see. There was a sobering moment in the elevator—they show a video screen on the back of the elevator that has a visual evolution of New York, from the time the settlers appeared to modern day. From 1977-2001, you can briefly see the Twin Towers, and then they disappear. It reminds you that most of the children visiting the WTC site were not even born yet when the attacks happened. While it’s a real-life graveyard to me, to them, it’s just another national park, no more relevant to their lives than Gettysburg is to mine. It’s amazing now “NEVER FORGET” has already been forgotten in what seems like virtually no time at all.

Until next year, NYIAS.