New York is irretrievably and hopelessly in love with K-pop boy group BTS.
Ever since the minute BTS set its foot in New York on September 24 to deliver a speech at the United Nations, New York has been nothing but a second home to BTS since the whole city welcomed the group with a big hug.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority(MTA) even made a public announcement about the changes in subway routes in order to avoid any further confusion that might be caused by BTS' concert on October 6. For the past two weeks, BTS painted the town red with its appearance in 'Good Morning America' and 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon', and the concert at the Citi Field. To welcome BTS' stay, the fans in New York surprised the group by displaying an advertisement on the Empire State Building and organizing a fundraiser to follow the footsteps of BTS who has been striving to achieve the goal of public good. On October 6, the fans came up with a donation campaign '#AnpanARMYxLYTour' while enjoying BTS' concert at Citi Field to help the homeless by donating a lot of canned foods and blankets. According to the fans, the lyrics of BTS' track 'ANPANMAN' which portrays a hero who always takes good care of the less fortunate gave an idea to this particular campaign.
They also added that this is their way of saying thank you to BTS' 'LOVE MYSELF', an anti-violence campaign. After the concert, the fans cleaned up the area voluntarily and such good deed caught the eyes of the public since it was quite a rare scene in the United States.
It seems like Korean ARMY's polite attitude and manners are just as contagious as their love for BTS.
Also, there are other parties who also benefited from the positive externality created by BTS' trip to New York.
The price of the hotels near Citi Field almost quintupled due to all the fans came to New York just to see BTS' concert. One of the fans commented, "Usually, it was around $200 a day but now it went up to $1,000."
Meanwhile, BTS will continue its world tour in Europe starting with the concert in the UK on October 9 and 10.
