Exxxotica NY Controversy Continues
Mayor of Edison: 'There's no place for it in our community'
By: David Sullivan
Posted: 09/10/2008
EDISON, N.J. - Mayor Jun Choi has voiced his opposition to the Exxxotica NY show taking place this weekend at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center at Raritan Center.
"We strongly object to this event coming to Edison," Choi told reporters on Tuesday. "There's no place for it in our community."
Victory Tradeshow Management moved the erotic expo to Edison after the town of Secaucus filed a lawsuit on Monday to stop the show from taking place at the Meadowlands Exposition Center. The suit cited state law prohibiting a venue with a liquor license from exhibiting nudity.
"We respect the mayor's right to his opinion," Exxxotica organizer J. Handy told AVN. "What's good about it is that while he may want to ban us, he knows what we're doing is not illegal. The Raritan Center provided their own security, but we've basically doubled it - that's a system we've always had in place, so nothing has changed."
Handy told AVN the show has never before encountered this kind of resistance.
"When we first started doing the show in Miami, the Miami Beach Convention Center was very cooperative and fantastic with going to the city ahead of time to make sure all their licenses were in line," he said. "Unfortunately, that didn't happen with the Meadowlands. The past few days have been crazy with the media; it's unlike anything i've ever seen. So hurray for the Mayor of Secaucus for all the publicity."
Despite the last-minute hassles, Handy is confident the show will run smoothly.
"It's pretty amazing how supportive everybody involved with the show has been," he said. "I've never moved a 150-company trade show three days out! It feels good to know everything will continue as planned. Our ticket sales are way ahead of Miami, and I think it's going to be a great show."
Exxxotica NY runs Friday, Sept. 12 - Sunday, Sept. 14. For tickets and show info, visit ExxxoticaNY.com.
