Her reporting has taken her to Iraq and Afghanistan, Albania and Russia, and her stories have run the range from the congressional campaign of Iraq veteran Tammy Duckworth to the fate of female Kosovar refugees to the anxiety of families living with severe food allergies.

It's often said that a writer's voice is the key to a strong column, but what I hope my column becomes known for is capturing others' voices in all their idiosyncratic glory. How New Yorkers sound, how they live day to day, the choices they make to accommodate the great tradeoffs and pressures and rewards that come with life in New York — that's what I aspire to reflect in my column.