Hey everyone, I'm new here at CC but I've been cuddling for nearly three years. Boston-based, currently on tour until September. Check out my profile for more info on that 
I've only been on CC a few days since I decided to tour NYC (I'm here next week too!) but I got a TON of requests from people that said they're new and haven't reached out to a professional cuddler before. There's something about being on the internet and looking for someone to cuddle that is still new, odd and hard to wrap their head around as something that we can give ourselves permission to do, so I'm inviting you all, NYC dwellers, experienced or not, to come to something way, way more low-key tomorrow early evening after work in Madison Square Park.
It's called HugFest. And it's quite simple: you come, you say hi, you ask someone there if they'd like a hug (presumably everyone there is open to one), and you can hang out and talk with people about pretty much anything you'd like. At the very least, you can hug and talk to me. I am a safe person in this space bare minimum.
Why am I doing this?
I've worked with over 300 people in cuddle sessions at this point in my career. Many of my clients learn how to ask for things they want through my sessions (they're not passive, but they are willing to ask if they want something else other than what I'm giving them), and when they come back for more sessions and tell me about how their lives have changed, I noticed something: they've learned how to ask for things.
Asking for a hug is a simple ask that not everyone feels comfortable asking for every day, and I especially see it not easy for straight men to be able to ask for this too often. For some, meeting up to cuddle someone you've never met is kind of scary, even if you've talked on the phone or chatted beforehand via video. Even after all of that effort, so few people feel like this is something they can ask for.
I want to be able to get people to ask for touch, and this is the most basic way how to.
So if you're in the area and want to come, PM me and I'll send you the link to the event (I'd rather not post it here as I think that's against the rules of the forum, but I wanted to let people know that this is something that's happening IRL and they don't have to lurk here without getting their needs met even on a basic level because they're too afraid to ask for a cuddle session).
Pros! You're welcome to come and self-promote too! I want it to be a welcoming community vibe that we have in the park. Again, super low-key event to just meet people and give and get hugs
I will be doing this in other cities too every two weeks or so (I'm going to so many others), but I especially wanted to welcome New Yorkers because I've noticed the past few days I've been in the city just how hard it is to talk to people here. It's especially hard compared to other cities, and I think of myself as someone that integrates into cultures pretty quickly yet still manage to make friends. I feel for you, NYC people. Let's give you a hug or five to help remedy this.