New York Star Trek ’76 was a for-profit Star Trek con, the second one staged by Lisa Boynton. The first Boynton con was Star Trek Chicago. In con reports, fans dubbed it “Disastercon ,” “Riotcon,” and “Heartbreak Hotel.” This con, unlike the New York Star Trek conventions, was for profit and paid its guests to attend, making it more difficult for fan run conventions to compete with.
This convention and its predecessor, Star Trek Chicago, were hailed by many fans as the end of the era of fan run conventions with actor guests. The convention was scheduled a few weeks after Al Schuster’s 1976 Star Trek convention and a few weeks before the Committee con also in New York. The timing was not accidental and cut into both convention’s attendance.
The organizer’s focus on profits also rankled many fans: “We were at the Commodore Hotel collating the hand-our bags for our February Con (Washington’s Birthday weekend every year) while monitoring coverage on the news of the badly run BoyntonCon across town. Boynton was the first one to pay the stars to come — and ruined it for everyone ever after.”
The Star Trekkies all come together for a huge convention at the Americana Hotel and the star of the old space show, “Star Trek,” William Shatner comes on our show to discuss the renewed interest in star trek mania, his past role as Captain Of The Starship Enterprise, and what his plans are for the future.
