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NYC: A Dark City

New Yorkers have always had a reputation for being distinctively jaded and secular. In certain areas of the city, something of the veil of morality has been stripped away, and what lies beneath is rich and subtle like a fine dark wine. Wealth, beauty, sensual indulgence, and convenience are shameless pursuits; people live for the nightlife, and those are its pillars.

New York City's notorious cultivation of the subversive and the rebellious is reflected in its numerous outlets through which to indulge darker urges— a steady flow of traffic filters through its adult shops, lounges, bars, dungeons, and niche clubs. Washington Square Park and the East Village have a legendary reputation for being zones of deviance and counterculture, and downtown CBGB's gained visibility around the globe by serving as an incubator for countless punk bands.

Clubs are often operating nearly until the proverbial cock-crow, and after-hours clubs are open even later. What enticements will you find there? The quest for discovery is thoroughly addictive. In a city with more niches than a sea sponge, Manhattan collects together every kind of strangeness that can be humanly explored.

Gotham City is the home of the renegade without much of an establishment or authority left to reject. This is the new homeland of the Gypsy, the visionary, the radical. Dressing in black isn't the sign of an outcast; in the bohemian districts Downtown it's practically the designated uniform. New York is both mirror and window; a place of masks and nakedness where you are both audience and actor at the greatest floorshow in the world.

NYC: A City of Sin

Though New York's flamboyance is mainly a matter of style, we do have a few material advantages over other locations when it comes to cultivating an air of decadence.

Chief among sinful New York City delights is the liquor supply, which is abundant and varied. Unlike many states, New York does not maintain socialist-style controls over liquor stores, so distributors in this shipping hub can and do offer anything and everything that is not outright narcotic, often at surprisingly reasonable prices. Liquor stores are open until ten, and bars until the small hours of the morning. And although the drinking age is 21+, most clubs are allowed to serve both drinking and non-drinking crowds— all C7 events will be held in unsegregated venues so that babygoths need not be excluded from the festivities.

Another boon is the diversity of people from all corners of the mental and physical world dwelling together here, giving and receiving a daily living lesson in multiculturalism. The result is that New Yorkers are one of the most tolerant groups of people that you will find anywhere. Gotham is well-regarded as a highly gay-friendly city, not to mention an eccentric-friendly city and a piercing-friendly city. New Yorkers are generally highly dedicated to minding their own business.

NYC: An International City

The ramifications of New York City's illustrious international heritage permeate nearly every facet of modern-day Manhattan life. The air resonates with multilingual conversations, both within and beyond the numerous ethnic pockets peppering the city; Chinatown, Little Italy, Little India, and Little Brazil are only among the best known. Myriad specialty eateries cater to every palate, from Burmese to Ethiopian cuisine. The United Nations, headquartered in Manhattan, is a focal point for global politics where history is made on a daily basis. In every sense, New York City is a world-class destination.

NYC: A Fashion Center

The city is home to the couture fashions of Calvin Klein and Donna Karan, as well as street-savvy designs by Betsey Johnson and Todd Oldham. Along with London, New York was ground zero for punk style— New Yorkers Tish & Snooky were the first to import wild hair dyes from the UK to the US, hence Manic Panic— and has been a gothic shopping mecca for decades.

In the Village, you'll find enough PVC clothing and pointy boots to max out even the highest credit limit. Stores such as Religious Sex, Trash, and Purple Passion sell exquisite fetish gear and stylish footwear that put the "nice boots" back into "nice boots... wanna fuck?" Thrift shoppers and vintage clothing fans will find plenty of incredibly funky and cheap garments and accessories from the 1800s thru the 1970s at Antique Boutique. Those requiring a makeup fix need only stroll over to Sephora on Fifth Avenue to see every conceivable color of face paint spread before them in a decadent rainbow.

NYC: A Safe City

In the popular imagination, New York City once loomed as a Den of Vice and Danger unparalleled in the civilized world. This view was always exaggerated, and in light of recent developments has become downright nonsensical.

New York City is one of the very safest large cities in the United States. In the 1999 Morgan Quitno ranking of the 300 largest US cities by level of safety, with 1 being safest and 300 most dangerous, New York City was ranked 189. By comparison, San Francisco was ranked 192, Seattle was ranked 201, and New Orleans was ranked 295. All of these cities have held Convergences without a major incident. More information on the Morgan Quitno ratings can be found at http://www.morganquitno.com/cit99alpha.htm .

New York City is also neither as large nor as confusing as the general perception credits it with being. Manhattan Island, which is the area that most people are speaking of when they refer to New York City, is only 14 miles long and 2 miles wide. In addition, the streets are laid out in an easy-to-parse numbered grid which makes navigation a snap. Even the subways have a simple color-coded system.

NYC: An Affordable City

It is also perfectly possible to visit New York City without making it a bank-busting occasion. Though living in Manhattan can be expensive because of high rents, one can easily get delicious meals here for under ten dollars and see the sights of the city for the price of a subway token. The cost of standard necessities and even amenities are consistent with those in other regions of the country. The Convergence committee is working hard to ensure that the hotel prices will be very reasonable (especially given the quality of the surroundings) and to obtain coupons and deals for Convergence attendees wherever possible.

NYC: A Green City

New York City's green spaces are a prominent and lovely feature of the metropolis. 22.3% of the area of Manhattan is dedicated to parks and other open stretches.

The best-known of the New York City parks is, of course, Central Park. In the heart of Manhattan, this 843-acre park is host to over 250 species of birds, several ponds, and areas for myriad outdoor activities, from baseball to chess to celebrity-spotting. The lovely Cloisters at Fort Tryon Park, site of various New York Net.Goth picnics, has a charming medieval feel. For those who want to see green without the trials of dealing with actual weather, there is also the Botanical Gardens, a museum of plants and a National Historic Landmark.

NYC: A Center of the Arts

It is very possible that Manhattan Island has more art per square inch than any other metropolitan area in the U.S. World-renowned cultural institutions such as the Met, the MOMA, the Guggenheim, and the Whitney are among the 150+ museums covering the small island. That's not even beginning to count the performance artists, the theatres, the movie houses showing independent and foreign films that would send most Hollywood executives screaming into the night, and the literary readings and slams. Even eating and drinking are art forms in New York City, with restaurants and bars displaying an amazing range of atmospheres for every taste.

But not only the finished fruits of the muse are to be found here. New York City has long been considered the place to run to for struggling artists of all varieties. Why? Perhaps because the city that never sleeps embraces all drives, including the drive to create. Perhaps it is because of the sheer wealth of material generated by the unceasing activity of such a mass of humanity. Perhaps because of the readily available audience full of a diversity of tastes to support every vision. Perhaps because of the stimulating company of other artists, who can be found in every part of the city but congregate especially in the legendary East Village.

What is the result for you, the visitor? An unparalleled chance to see art in its larval and in its finished forms, in any medium you please and any concentration you desire, in an atmosphere that cherishes the artist and may very well awaken your own muse.