Big Apple
Although the history of "Big Apple " was once thought a mystery, a clearer picture of the term's history has emerged due to the work of amateur etymologist Barry Popik, and Gerald Cohen of Missouri University of Science and Technology. A number of false theories had previously existed, including a claim that the term derived from a woman named Eve who ran a brothel in the city. This was subsequently exposed as a hoax.
New York Comic Con
The New York Comic Con is a for-profit event produced and managed by ReedPOP, a division of Reed Exhibitions and Reed Elsevier, and is not affiliated with the long running non-profit San Diego Comic-Con, nor the Big Apple Convention, later known as the Big Apple Comic-Con, owned by Wizard Entertainment. ReedPOP is involved with other events, including Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) and PAX Dev/PAX East/PAX Prime. ReedPop and New York Comic Con were founded by Greg Topalian, former senior vice president of Reed Exhibitions.
The first con was held in 2006 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Due to Reed Exhibitions' lack of experience with comic conventions (they primarily dealt with professional trade shows prior to 2006), attendance was far more than anticipated, and the main exhibition hall could only hold 10,000. Despite crowding on Friday afternoon, tickets continued to be sold due to low pre-reg numbers (4,500), and the non-counting of professionals and exhibitors. The main exhibition hall hit capacity Saturday morning and was locked by the fire marshals until people left, with the lockdown ending in the afternoon. Major guests, including Kevin Smith and Frank Miller, could not enter the main hall. The line to enter the convention wrapped around the building with waits of two hours to enter, and many were turned away. Ticket sales for Sunday were suspended. Reed announced that additional space would be acquired for the 2007 show.