Exxxotica Is Forced to Find New Home in N.J.

An adult entertainment-industry tradeshow was forced to make a last-minute change of venue after a New Jersey mayor filed a lawsuit to stop it completely.

Victory Tradeshow Management made the decision to hold the launch of Exxxotica New York at the New Jersey Convention & Exposition Center in Edison, N.J., instead of the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, N.J., 28 miles away, just three days before the show's Sept. 12 opening and one day before it was to appear in court on the suit filed by Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell.

“There's been so much put into this (show) already,” said Mike Moz, a spokesman for Victory Tradeshow Management, when asked why the company decided to move rather than fight the lawsuit. “The ticket sales look really strong, and people are really excited about it, so we just wanted to get the people what they wanted.”

According to David Drumeler, Secaucus' town administrator, Elwell filed the lawsuit on two grounds: First, New Jersey's Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control does not allow an establishment with pornographic or adult-oriented items for sale or on display in an establishment that also sells liquor, which the Meadowlands center does. Second, New Jersey law forbids what Drumeler described as “any type of go-go dancing within 1,500 feet of a school.”

A day care center is located next to the convention center.

“We suggested we don't need any liquor,” Moz said. “Lock it up, even ... suspend the liquor license for the course of the weekend, but the mayor wasn't interested in that.”

As to the “go-go dancing,” Moz added, “We were never planning on having live nudity.”The New Jersey Convention & Exposition Center does not have a liquor license nor a school nearby, so there appear to be no problems with staging the show there.

“I've been doing this 15 years, and I know enough about the rules and regulations in the state,” said Joe Cascio, general manager of the NJCEC. “I know what can and can't be done.”

Calls and e-mails to the Meadowlands Exposition Center were not returned.

Although the show went ahead as planned, Edison Mayor Jun H. Choi released a statement expressing his displeasure.

“If we could stop it legally, we would,” Choi said, “but, unfortunately, we are not in the same legal position as Secaucus. The event will have no liquor and is far removed from residential neighborhoods and education facilities.”

Moz said the show had more than 150 exhibitors on a showfloor of between 60,000 and 70,000 net square feet and about 10,000 attendees. While Exxxotica New York was a launch, the company's other show, Exxxotica Miami Beach, was held for the third time this past spring.

“Down (in Miami) ... there was 22,000 (attendees),” Moz said.

There were costs related to the last-minute move, he added, including those associated with the hotel room block for the 50 adult film stars flying in for the event; show decorators; ground transportation; and updating of media, radio and print buys to inform attendees of the location change.

“It's a huge undertaking,” Moz said, “moving an entire tradeshow within a week, and (the NJCEC has) been nothing but sympathetic to us. There's been no price gouging or anything like that.”

Cascio said the show contacted him over the weekend and by Sept. 9, had put plans for the show together.

According to Jerry Barca, communications director for the Edison mayor's office, the NJCEC will pay for additional police officers in the area for the duration of the three-day show.

“From our end, we will ... have a keen eye,” Barca said. “There will be a police presence.”

Cascio said he will employ seven off-duty police officers, three uniformed officers and one officer in a police vehicle, as well as a fire marshal and the regular guard service.

“We normally wouldn't go this far,” he added, “but, with everything that had come up, we kind of made more of a statement to over-security the event.”

For Secaucus, Drumeler said, the financial loss will be minimal.

“We have a lot of travelers who come here because we're an eight-or nine-minute bus ride ... (and) a 10-minute train ride from downtown Manhattan,” he added, “so a lot of folks stay in our hotels as a cheaper alternative.”

Even though the show is called Exxxotica New York, Moz said his company hopes to hold it in the New Jersey Convention & Exposition Center again next year. He added that the company looked for venues in both New York and New Jersey before settling on the Meadowlands, five minutes from the Lincoln Tunnel.

Cascio said as long as everything goes well and without incident, he would have no issues with booking Exxxotica New York again next year.

“Looking at it and being in here and being involved with it, it is a tradeshow,” he added, “no different than if they're showing widgets. It's really ... well put on, the people who run it are very, very professional and ... everything we've asked for, they've done and complied with.”