Results tagged “NY Times”

Yesterday, NY Times reporter David Rohde returned to the NY Times newsroom, a week and a half after escaping seven months of captivity in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Taliban kidnappers. He appeared with his fellow kidnap victim, Tahir Ludin, a reporter who worked as his translator and guide; the Times' Clyde Haberman wrote, "In an intensely emotional moment, the two men walked into the Times newsroom to enormous waves of applause from scores of reporters and editors... As the long ovation continued, Mr. Ludin wiped away tears. Some in the newsroom seemed near tears themselves."

This week Frank Bruni at the Times reviews Meatpacking District hotspot Spice Market, where chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten's menu is inspired by Asian street food. Interim dining critic Amanda Hesser gave it three out of four stars in 2004, but the paper was forced to issue a statement acknowledging that Hesser should have disclosed the glowing jacket blurb Vongerichten wrote for her book.

The Afghan reporter who was kidnapped by the Talban, alongside NY Times reporter David Rohde, in Afghanistan last November described how he and Rohde escaped the compound where they were being held. According to the NY Times, it was a "desperate attempt by two severely demoralized reporters who believed that the Taliban were not seriously negotiating and would hold them indefinitely." Tahir Ludin says he and Rohde planned their escape on a day when the electricity was on, because the air-conditioning would mask sounds of their getaway. After their guards fell asleep, the men "made their way to the second floor" and cleared a five-foot wall, but then Ludin "was greeted by an unnerving view: a 20-foot drop." Ludin climbed down a rope that Rohde found (and hidden away), but injured his foot in the fall; Rohde managed without injury. When they arrived at a Pakistani militia camp, guards initially suspected they might be suicide bombers. However, once their identities as journalists were confirmed, "they were treated well." Times executive editor Bill Keller explained that Rohde's kidnapping was not reported on because "All along, we were told by people that probably the wisest course for David's safety was to keep it quiet."

Well, fancy that: A TPM Cafe blogger noticed how a passage in Maureen Dowd's Sunday op-ed column was very similar to a Talking Points Memo column, posted on Thursday, by TPM editor Josh Marshall. Dowd's passage read, "More and more the timeline is raising the question of why, if the torture was to prevent terrorist attacks, it seemed to happen mainly during the period when the Bush crowd was looking for what was essentially political information to justify the invasion of Iraq." Marshall's was exactly the same, except he used "we were" instead of "the Bush crowd was." Dowd later admitted to the Huffington Post that it was a mistake—she was discussing the column with a friend "who suggested I make this point, expressing it in a cogent -- and I assumed spontaneous -- way and I wanted to weave the idea into my column. but, clearly, my friend must have read josh marshall without mentioning that to me." Gawker calls it BS and Politico's Michael Calderone has emailed Dowd, asking "if it's common practice to take an entire passage from a friend and weave it into her column." In the meantime, Dowd's column is updated, acknowledging Marshall.

According to Fortune, David Geffen, the record executive turned Dreamworks co-founder, made an offer to buy the 19% stake in the NY Times owned by hedge fund Harbinger Capital. The Financial Times says, "His offer was rebuffed, two people familiar with its details said. One of these said the offer was made at the prevailing market price but Harbinger wanted a premium, adding that Mr Geffen remained interested in owning the company and would be "a patient buyer'." Geffen previously made a $2 billion pitchto buy the LA Times, which was rejected by the Tribune company. Fortune, which also mentions that Google briefly considered buying the Times but then passed, details the Times' financial and "esoteric" troubles; the latter is described as how the "company suffers from a kind of genetic disorder stemming from the high-minded public goals of the Ochs-Sulzberger trust...and the demands of running a public company." Gawker thinks a Geffen-owned Times is great news for the Times' gay mafia.

The NY Times' financial woes are well-known, but now the NY Post reports, "The family that controls The New York Times empire has lost more than 86 percent of its fortune and may have sell their controlling stake to get out of debt. The Ochs-Sulzberger family, which has run the venerable paper since 1896, may also face unusual pressure from about two dozen descendants to cash out and restore their comfortable lifestyles snatched away suddenly by hard times." The Post has a graphic detailing things like how the family fortune was once $425 million and how their annual income is just $4.5 million (down 50% from recent years), complete with an actual image of Times publisher Arthur "Pinch" Sulzberger with a black eye (Sulzberger's dad's nickname was Punch). The tabloid also explains that Mexican media mogul Carlos Slim, who loaned $250 million to the Times, "is poised to become the biggest Times shareholder of common stock because he's allowing his loan to be repaid in six years with stock -- either from the family's main trust or a weakened corporate treasury."

Now that the MTA's fare hike may just be 25 cents, you can put your savings towards the NY Times. The AP says the paper is raising its prices: Starting June 1, weekday and Saturday editions will cost $2—up from $1.50—and the Sunday NYC edition will be $5—up from $4—and the Sunday national edition will be $6—up from $5. The paper last raised its prices in July. The NY Times' parent company, the NY Times Co., has lost $74 million during the first quarter and is looking to make cuts and even threatened to shut down the Boston Globe if union concessions weren't made. Yesterday, the NY Times' members of the Newspaper Guild agreed to a 5% pay cut in order to avert layoffs and today management sent employees a thank you memo.

After threatening to shut down its plant if unions did not make concessions, agreements have been made between Boston Globe management (the paper is owned by the NY Times Co.) and three of four unions, thus allowing the Globe to survive a little longer. The Boston Newspaper Guild is the lone holdout and the Globe reports, "The possibility of a shutdown remains if the company can't reach agreement with the Guild over $10 million in cost reductions, as well as contract changes, particularly the elimination of lifetime job guarantees enjoyed by about 190 Guild employees." However, spokesperson is optimistic and says those savings could be achieved in other ways. Over in NYC, the NY Times' Newspaper Guild members agreed to take a 5% pay cut in order to avoid laying off dozens of people; the pay cuts will be restored if ad revenues bounce back.

The NY Times Company, which has been trying to slash costs and taking loans on its building and from a Mexican billionaire, announced a first-quarter loss of $74.5 million today. The Times reports this "compare[s] with a loss of $335,000 in the period a year ago, as it joined the roster of newspaper companies recording the steepest advertising declines in generations." Advertising revenue dropped 28% (including online advertising drop of 8%), but the "worst drop, 31.4%, hit the New England Media Group, which consists primarily of The Boston Globe and its site, Boston.com. The company has told unions at The Globe that the paper is on track to lose $85 million this year, and that unless deep cuts are made, the paper will be sold or closed." The fate of the Boston Globe has prompted Senate John Kerry (D-Mass) to hold Senate hearings about the newspaper industry next month. Update: Henry Blodget thinks the Times will run out of cash in 12 months.

After rumors, the NY Times has confirmed that it will be cutting a few sections as part of its cost-saving measures. According to the Observer, "The City section, the regionals and the Escapes section will be eliminated as stand-alone sections in The Times. Instead, they'll just use material that may have appeared in those sections in a Sunday metro report." Times executive editor Bill Keller told employees, "We will consolidate Sunday Metro area coverage in a new Sunday feature section, which will be a showcase for news and features from the city and beyond. (Metro area breaking news will be incorporated into the A-book.)" Also, the Sunday Times Magazine will no longer have fashion spreads—they'll be going into the T magazine.

Your print edition of the NY Times may be getting slimmer and slimmer. According to the Observer's sources, "The New York Times plans to eliminate several weekly sections, including its stand-alone City Section," plus "There are also discussions to eliminate the regional weeklies in New Jersey, Long Island, Westchester and Connecticut, and the Friday Escapes section as well." This is the latest in a series of moves that the newspaper is taking to cut costs (last week, layoffs and salary cuts were announced) and it seems the City section, which arrived on Sundays with lengthy features about blog commenters and the subway, may only have four more issues left. Here are Times executive editor Bill Keller's remarks to the newsroom—one question left unanswered: What will the Weekender do?!? Also, last October is when the Metro section was rolled into Section A.

The other week, Cablevision revealed that it would shift Newsday.com from a free website to one that charges for its content, given the declining fortunes of newspaper industry. Now the NY Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger says he is considering "incremental" charges at the NYTimes.com website. At an event at SUNY Stony Brook, Sulzberger discussed the print industry, “The immediate future looks, at a minimum, grim. Traditional revenue streams are anemic and getting worse." The NY Times has had various approaches for web revenue: Charging non-subscribers, charging international visitors, charging for editorials and opinion pieces... An analyst tells Crain's, “The Times has taken this position of ‘we’re free, we’re the biggest news site on the Web' If they make a mistake and confuse people again, the Times will have pulled defeat from the jaws of potential victory.”

This week Frank Bruni at the Times bestows two precious stars on Greenwich Village restaurant 10 Downing. It's a big deal for chef Jason Neroni, who, as Bruni observes right at the top, has had his troubles. But that was then, this is now: "I seldom had the sense that Mr. Neroni was showing off, which he’s been known to do. What was strongest about the best dishes wasn’t some fanciful conceit or adornment, but rather the quality and preparation of the centerpiece ingredient." Still, bring your hearing aid, for the "din can be excruciating."

The NY Times announced it raised $225 million in cash from the "sale-leaseback of part of its headquarters building, one in a series of moves to pay down its debts and increase its cash cushion during a drastic slump for the newspaper industry."

On February 27th and 28th, David Byrne (avid cyclist, friend of Gothamist) took to the Radio City Music Hall stage, but it looks like not everyone was dazzled by the performance (which included an amazing dance with tutus). Did Byrne get burned by the NY Times? The musician points out on his own blog that "the reviewer, Jon Pareles, loves the Bush Of Ghosts album and has some kind of nostalgia for those days. We all know music snobs who like to remind everyone that they heard so and so back when they were really good. This, however, is the same reviewer who leveled charges of 'cultural imperialism' against Bush Of Ghosts in his Rolling Stone review back in the early 80’s." Apparently Pareles doesn't like gimmicks (really?), but maybe he needs to loosen up—this looks like fun!:

The Times has begun experimenting with a niche neighborhood blog platform, starting with a website about Fort Greene and Clinton Hill in Brooklyn. If it works, perhaps Brownsville is next? Edited by Andy Newman, a Times reporter who resides in Park Slope (but just eight blocks from Fort Greene!), the blog has burst out of the gate with posts about sledding, kids who couldn't get into a movie, and the ongoing struggle to save Broken Angel. Newman introduced the site, called The Local, with a reminder to readers that "is an infant, unformed. With your care and feeding it can grow into a self-sustaining adult." So surely commenters welcomed this fragile newcomer with the tenderness it deserves? Ah, welcome to our world, Newman: "Oh, thank you so much for helping to continue the gentrification of my neighborhood by promoting it as the new cool local place for (white) people who read the NYT to be! Make sure to post lots of pictures of people eating in cafes and drinking coffee and riding their bikes to and from the farmer's market! I can’t wait to read what the hipsters love and hate about this neighborhood!" One day old and The Local already has their own "Ides of March." (See also: Jersey.)

Yesterday, Cablevision executives had a conference call with analysts and let it drop that they are going to put Newsday.com in the paid subscription business model. COO Tom Rutledge of the cable company, which bought the Long Island newspaper last year, said, "Our goal was and is to use our electronic network assets and subscriber relationships to transform the way news is distributed. We plan to end the distribution of free Web content."

There's a pretty big sex club hidden in a hangar-like space somewhere around the border of Red Hook and Carroll Gardens, where every weekend swingers and single fornicators come together for a little coitus, voyeurism, and baked ziti. Times reporter Alan Feuer has a detailed profile on the place, which charges $40 for couples, $90 for single men, and admits unescorted women—"who are sex-club gold"—free of charge. During his time at the nameless club, which he says is located somewhere between a cement plant and the Gowanus Expressway, Feuer observes the usual out-of-shape, middle-age group sex action you'd expect, plus a girl-on-girl show between two young women who "mauled each other with the energy of terriers mating." The club's proprietor, one Mistress Wanda, tells him, "Everybody comes here: cops, postmen, bus drivers. I went to a funeral last month and recognized a pallbearer." For added flavor, the article comes with one of those 360 panorama photo spreads, depicting a carpet as sad as you'd expect. UPDATE: Naturally, our readers know the place: It's called Casbar, and it's further south than we suspected, in Sunset Park. See you all there Saturday for their Recession Buster Pizza Party! [Via Curbed]

This week the Times's Frank Bruni gives some love to Buttermilk Channel (photos) in Carroll Gardens, where, "although one in three dishes widely misses its mark and the restaurant’s reach frequently exceeds its grasp, there’s the possibility of a terrific meal. There’s the probability of a pleasant one... Buttermilk Channel is a restaurant of real standards, noteworthy ambition and uncommon slavishness to trends. It’s laudable and predictable in equal measures. And it was packed every time I went." The bulk of the review is dedicated to Bruni's lust for their pecan pie sundae.

The financial firms may be doing poorly on Wall Street, but there's a baby boom in the Financial District! The NY Times dubs the area the "Diaper District" and speaks to doormen at condo 80 John Street who say 22 babies were born to residents last year—"And we have about two or maybe three more expecting. There were so many, we lost count"—as well as parents who explain the migration—"A lot of people that I know from the group lived in rentals in TriBeCa and Battery Park City, and when it came time to buy, they couldn’t afford to stay where they were, but the Financial District offered more space for less money." Services for families are emerging, like preschools, more diapers at stores, children's clothing stores, though some residents still want more retail and restaurant options. Hey, this might be a great idea for laid-off investment bankers—developing services to cater to the families downtown...they know the neighborhood, after all! And one mom approved of neighborhood, "It’s a weird mix of baby carriages and people rushing to the rat race, but it works.”

Meet Janet Faello (and pop a Zoloft): The 53-year-old divorcee with two daughters in college has been trying since May 2007 to sell her and her ex's Long Island 6-bedroom home. Her initial asking price was $829,000, then $750,000, now $699,000. Care to guess how many offers she's gotten? If you said anything more than zero, you're not depressed enough. Faello, whose experience is emblematic of the current housing implosion, is stuck in the home, surrounded by memories of her failed marriage and steep property taxes. She tells the Times, "I’m not ashamed to say to you, I have had to borrow money from my father." The article paints a bleak portrait of NYC suburbanites who feel like hostages in homes they can't sell. Pending home sales in the Northeast fell 14.5% from December 2007 to December 2008, and are not expected to "hit rock bottom" for at least another year. As one frustrated Connecticut home seller puts it, "Sometimes dreams just blow away." For further reading, curl up with a bottle of pills and George Packer's disturbing article about Florida's housing apocalypse.

This week the Times's Frank Bruni piles on Shang, a restaurant in the Thompson LES Hotel helmed by the acclaimed, formerly Toronto-based chef Susur Lee, whose first mistake is making Bruni exercise: "The staircase was the first befuddlement and miscalculation I encountered — and a clue that the evening and restaurant might not be all I’d hope for. It’s a long, drab, foreboding rise of steps from the sidewalk to the host station, an entrance less inviting than aerobic. I’ve gone on runs that didn’t leave me as winded." As for the menu, some dishes are "intensely pleasurable," but overall it's "inconsistent and uneventful. The magic that Mr. Lee reputedly made in Toronto hasn’t followed him here."

Finally someone has parodied the New York Times Weekender ad. You know the one ("It's like you get the Friday paper, and boom you're right into the weekend!"). Behold the all-star ensemble cast starring in Michael Showalter's version, created for the 92YTribeca. Spoiler: Mike Birbiglia's illiterate!

Frank Bruni at the Times really wants to love the newly renovated Oak Room (photos), but the food is so erratic that dining there amounts to a very costly coin toss. His review is nothing like Steve Cuozzo's recent excoriation, but in this economy, it's not what the Oak Room needed: "It has been meticulously and gorgeously restored. An acclaimed French-born chef was recruited to supervise the kitchen. And those developments combined, on the best of the nights when I dined there, to produce a lovely experience of a rarefied sort.

Only in New York, kids: The NY Times front page* features an article about a very slow elevator at a Manhattan grocery store. To be fair(way), it's the elevator that goes between just two floors at the Upper West Side grocery institution, Fairway, where shopping carts are turned into instruments of, if not death, then serious bruising amid well-priced products.

This week in the Village Voice, Robert Sietsema has his turn with The John Dory (photos), the new seafood place from the owners of The Spotted Pig. He concurs that "the menu is sometimes shockingly expensive. On our first visit, a half-dozen oysters set us back $24." But some items are worth it, like the cod milt (fish sperm, $16), "a dish that defines just how far the menu will go to deliver novel seafood sensations. While this may conjure up images of ejaculating fish and hapless under-chefs running after them with paper cups, the semen comes in a sac that fries up like sweetbreads. For aficionados of weird food, it's delicious." And Sarah DiGregorio loves Bushwick's Tortilleria Mexicana Los Hermanos, where "the tortillas are wonderful: thick, slightly chewy, and fragrant."

Practically from the horse's mouth: The NY Times now says Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim is "near a deal to invest about $250 million in The New York Times Company, helping to shore up the publishing company’s struggling finances." The Wall Street Journal had reported on this development on Saturday, saying that Slim's investment is structured like a loan; the Times adds that Slim may "get a special annual dividend, perhaps as high as 10 percent or more." Harvard professor and author of The Trust, a book about the Times, Alex Jones tells Reuters that Slim is an "ideal" investor: "This is a man who already has made his fortune and is in his own way an entrepreneur like Adolph Ochs was. That's different from some financiers looking for an opportunity to make a killing." At any rate, it's tought times for the Times: A $400 million credit line runs out in May and "as of September, the company had about $46 million in cash; its total debt load is $1.1 billion."

The Wall Street Journal reports the NY Times Company is in talks with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim about increasing his investment in the company. While it's unclear whether a deal will be made, one option is that "the Times Co. would issue Mr. Slim preferred stock, which carries no voting right but pays an annual dividend, in return for his investment"—in other words, it would be a loan. The NY Times Co.'s financial woes have been more publicized in recent months: It took a $225 million mortgage on its headquarters, is putting up its share of the Red Sox for sale, and started putting ads on page A1; the Post eagerly adds that the Times' "$400 million credit line expires in May." (The Post also loves the Times' apparent whining re: Obama access.) Slim is the second richest person in the world after Warren Buffett; a NY Times Co. special board meeting to discuss the matter is planned for this week.

Frank Bruni at the Times stays close to home (the Upper West Side) this week and on message (recession dining) with a review of two newish restaurants in the 'hood: West Branch (a mostly Mediterranean brasserie) and BarBao (mostly Vietnamese). He likes both, but West Branch is "always packed" while BarBao has empty seats, and this "may say a lot about which types of restaurants this cruel economy is going to be kinder to...At a different moment, in a different climate, both could probably count on success. But in this one, merit and good intentions aren’t enough. Caution, classics and French fries — these may matter more."

Note to fabulously good-looking, scrupulously healthy restaurant Rouge Tomate (pictured): the Times's Frank Bruni doesn't appreciate your good intentions. He opines, "In addition to a head chef with obvious talent, it employs a nutritionist, who makes certain that dishes have optimal ratios of meats to vegetables and fruits to nuts and don’t traffic recklessly in calories or the wrong fats...While about a quarter of the dishes are knockouts, at least as many are overly calculated and fastidious, suggesting there’s such a thing as too much balance. The same fruity, nutty, seedy notes pop up too often: during one meal I felt tyrannized by pomegranate, antioxidized to a fare-thee-well."