Despite what the tagline for this year’s Trek Long Island said, what happened on Risa is not staying on Risa because so much went on at this year’s Trek Long Island. It was loud, proud, and the crowd was wowed!
With a plethora of panels, photo ops, and extra special events, Trek delivered the goods again. One of the highlights of the weekend came from a most unexpected place: San Antonio, Texas where the Knicks beat the Spurs to become NBA champions for the first time since the dark decade between when Star Trek: TOS was cancelled and Star Trek the Movie helped spur the resurgence of the franchise. That night, celebs and fans gathered to watch New York sports history and the chants of “Let’s Go Knicks” and cheers echoed through the halls of the Hauppauge Hyatt.
During her panel the next day, Celia Rose Gooding took a few occasions to celebrate the win bursting out with a “Go Knicks!” from the stage.
“This is going to be a whole thing,” she said at one point.
Gooding told the story about when she auditioned for Uhura, they gave her character an alias that sounded suspiciously like Uhura but with the name she didn’t know: Uboa.
“Thinking back with the information they gave me it was painfully obvious who I was auditioning for,” she joked.
Gooding’s mother tried to tell her the role sounded exactly like a young Nyota Uhura. It was the casting agent who broke the news to her on her way to her first costume fitting. According to Gooding when she got the news, she screamed.
“Not unlike how I screamed last night for the Knicks,” she said.
Gooding also said that there are two moments in season four and five of Star Trek: SNW that will make Uhura fans very happy.
“We get to see her in complete, shameless ownership of her power,” she said.
In his panel appearance, Karim Diané spoke about the interactions he had with fans at the con where people expressed how much his character of Jay-Den Kraag from Star Trek: Starfleet Academy – the first openly gay Klingon – meant to them.
“That is all I want to do with my career is to inspire people and make them feel better about themselves,” Diané said.
Despite the series being cancelled Diané said he was grateful for being a part of Star Trek for 20 episodes.
“That’s 20 hours!” he said.
He also said if he could crossover to another show, he liked to be on Lower Decks. Diané then led the crowd in a chant of Lower Decks.
During Nicole de Boer’s panel (aka Ezri Dax from Deep Space Nine), Jeffery Combs hijacked the spotlight during the Q&A session to ask a few irreverent questions, despite the actress specifically saying not to ask the guy in the blue shirt any questions. Combs got in his bit anyway. Important stuff that the fans really wanted to know like, “Do you put the dots on yourself?” and “How do you remember your lines?” and the all-important “What did you have for lunch?” to which de Boer responded exasperatedly, “You were there!”
That was on Sunday, the last day of the con. When de Boer asked why he was doing all this, he said that he didn’t want to miss saying goodbye to her because she was leaving after the panel. Combs went up on stage and the two DS9 castmates hugged. Combs then ducked out the side door.
What’s great about a convention like this is that you can get up close and personal with the stars, even at the most unexpected moments. While waiting for our order from the Greek food truck outside the venue, Sam Kirk actor Dan Jeannotte got online to grab himself some food right next to us, politely asking if we were waiting to order.
Organizers also used the convention to announce a major change for Trek Long Island V. The event will move to the Melville Marriott, located at 1350 Walt Whitman Road in Melville, and is scheduled for June 11-13, 2027. Fans can already mark their calendars and purchase early-bird tickets through the convention’s website.
Trek Long Island organizer Stefanie Gangone said that the new venue will offer an even greater immersive experience than this year’s theme on Risa.
“The Melville Marriott has an atmosphere that feels like Starfleet Academy itself, and we think the experience in 2027 will be even more engaging,” she said.
You can look for more highlights from Trek Long Island IV on our Facebook and Instagram pages.
