When New York Press shut down last month to make way for a revived Our Town Downtown, The Observer wondered what would become of the hundreds of kelly green Press boxes dotting lower Manhattan. Standing side-by-side with the red graffiti'd Village Voice boxes, they were a visual reminder that print newspapers do still exist. Would they be thrown away, or left abandoned, like the wire holders for The New York Sun still lurking in subway newsstands?

On September 1, following the final issue of New York Press, the green boxes were transformed.  A black sticker with the revived paper's emblem now covers the familiar bright yellow New York Press logo on many of them downtown.

Gerry Gavin, Our Town Downtown and Manhattan Media publisher, explained the decision to repurpose the boxes made sense since writers from New York Press still contribute to the new paper’s arts and entertainment coverage.

“In this way readers of the NY Press would be easily able to find the new downtown publication,” Mr. Gavin said in an email. It's also more environmentally sound than throwing them all out.

Although alt-weeklies may never feel the same again, Manhattan Media will immortalize some of New York Press’ artsy spirit on the boxes.

In addition to recycling the green boxes, Mr. Gavin explained Manhattan Media intends to hold a newspaper box decorating contest which allowing downtown artists, schools and community groups to submit designs to paint each individual box. The boxes, Mr. Gavin said, will display each groups’ vision of what they love about downtown.

“This will make the boxes individualized art installations throughout downtown from 14th Street to Battery Park,” he said.

The New York Press will live on in name, sort of. The arts section of Our Town Downtown will be called New York Press, and nypress.com will be expanded in the fall to aggregate news and content from Manhattan Media's ten titles and other local news sources.

Marissa Maier, previously reported to be Jerry Portwood's replacement at the top of New York Press, will serve as managing editor for Our Town Downtown and Josh Rogers, formerly of Downtown Express, will supervise the re-launch and execution. It will be published by Gerry Gavin, who publishes the other five Manhattan Media weekly papers, with help from a few New York Press sales people.

"Downtown has changed, it's more ripe for a community paper than an alternative paper," Mr. Allon said. (The same demographic shift led to the original launch of Our Town Downtown in 2006. It merged with the New York Press when Manhattan Media bought it in 2007, making this a reverse-merger.)

Our Town Downtown plans to address its new audience with a new focus on real estate and with a special issue commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11, a portion of the advertising and sponsor revenue from which will be donated to two 9/11 charities.

"It'll compete with the Voice for hipsters, Downtown Express for community activists, and New York magazine for intelligentsia who care about real estate and their home values," Mr. Allon said.

If there is one hire that signifies the changing of the guard moment we're witnessing in the New York media scene, I'd argue it's the Village Voice's hiring of Harry Siegel, which they announced yesterday afternoon.

Siegel will be their new city columnist and is taking over the space filled, admirably, by Tom Robbins, who is now teaching the next generation of reporters over that the CUNY graduate center. (Robbin worked alongside investigative reporter Wayne Barrett who left in January, after more than three decades at the paper, for a job at the Daily Beast and The Nation Institute.) 

But don't let Siegel's age -- 33 -- fool you.

Siegel, a Brooklyn native, combines the historical perspective of a much older veteran (ask him what he was doing in the early and mid 1990s!) with the intelligent irreverence of an annoying hipster (he once demanded the New York Times write a correction after they reported that the New York Press endorsed Fernando Ferrer in the 2005 mayor's race. Even a casual reading of the endorsement -- written by Siegel -- would see he was kidding).

I probably would still be saying this even if Siegel wasn't an old friend and colleague of mine from the New York Press days.

And, in a Gchat interview yesterday (what should we call that kind of thing?), Siegel said he's eager to write a weekly column and, somewhat less reliant on using the blogging format as a way to make his mark on the scene.

Harry Siegel: Hey man

Azi Paybarah: yo. congratulations

Harry: Thanks

Azi Paybarah: all right, first things first. 

what's the name of the column going to be and the name of the blog?

Harry Siegel: Funny, but b/c of Voice style, the name of the column will be 

Harry Siegel and for blogging.

I'll be contributing to Runnin' Scared.

Azi Paybarah: you had more creative names back in the NY Press Days

Harry Siegel: Azimandias!

Azi Paybarah: ssshhhh about that.

So, will this be a reprisal of the NY Press you were building not too long ago, 

or are you picturing something different for this

- what do we call it? - column / blogging operation you're doing?

Harry Siegel: This is going to be a straight column, so 

I think comparing it to what I was doing as an editor at the Press is apples and oranges. 

And while I'll be blogging some, I'm really excited about the weekly column part --

-- it's a form that still packs a real punch when done right, and I is under-represented these days as the blog/instant news cycle model has ascended.

Excited to have a chance to hold and develop thoughts and stories, and to give them context

Azi Paybarah: despite your youthful age (33 is still young, right?), 

you've been around for a while.

what's your take on the NY media and how it's been covering Bloomberg? Because, you know, sadly, we don't have columns from Joyce Purnick, or Clyde Haberman, or even the ideologically consistent New York Sun, or, needless to say, Village Voice veterans Wayne Barrett and Tom Robbins.

Harry: there is big hole to fill in institutional knowledge. DC has gained at NY's expense --

so just looking at the New Yorkers at Politico: Ben Smith, and Gregg Birnbaum, and Glenn Thrush, and Maggie Haberman, and Edward-Isaac Dovere, and Allison Silver (formerly Nia, who is now at the Post) and Reid Epstein of Newsday. And, until recently, me.  

I'm sure I'm missing a few people, but you get the idea. 

So yes I think there's space here, especially for columnists.  

I'm not sure who writes long form about New York who really captures the city and its voice these days.

And yes, I am 33.

Azi Paybarah: think you'll score a Bloomberg interview?

Harry Siegel: Lol  

I hope so, we'll see

But I also think there's a lot to be said for looking at fundamentals, rather than personalities.

And being sure what access you do have pays off in terms of information, which ain't always the case

Azi Paybarah: any advice for blogging junkies like me, who, in some ways, are now sharing turf with you?

Harry Siegel: Hmm -- gimmie 1 sec to think about that

Azi Paybarah: in the meantime, let me try another way into the question!

what are the strengths of writing a weekly column, rather than, say, a constantly updated blog?

Harry Siegel: Dangerous to say before actually doing the column - but hopefully, I'm going to find out.

Thinking about it beforehand, I hope it's a chance to have things whole cloth, rather than in ever smaller news bits that can create proportional tricks, and defy contextualization.

Like DH Lawrence said about Joyce and Wolfe, as best I remember: It's like they're taking consciousness and ripping it up into finer and finer bits until they can only be distinguished by smell.

Mostly I hope that having access to Runnin Scared means I can blog a good deal when there's news,

but avoid the churnolism regular blogging tends to encourage

Azi Paybarah: aaaand end scene.

 

The eponymous Dan Rattiner will remain the paper's president and editor-in-chief. When Brown Publishing filed for bankruptcy in May, Mr. Rattiner assured readers that his paper wasn't going anwhere

"Brown's bankruptcy is not about shutting down and selling off the pieces. In fact, everything will be proceeding as normal," Mr. Rattiner wrote on the paper's website. "Instead, this action is about shedding much of this long-term bank loan."

Richard Burns, the chairman of Manhattan Media, said that even during Brown Publishing's struggle with bankruptcy, Dan's Papers never stopped making money.

Among the many, many categories listed—including, Media Mob is proud to announce, Best Mash-Up of NY Observer Trends—is an entry for Best Used Bookstore.

That honor goes to 12th Street Books:

Unforunately, the Press' piece is more of a eulogy than an endorsement: 12th Street Books is closed. A sign on the front of the store says that it will be reopening "Summer/Early Fall" in Brooklyn.

We're not sure how long it's been closed—a call to the store's number went to voicemail—but a visit to the subterranean shop two weeks ago found it nearly stripped and books being sold by the bagful to customers paying their respects.

Last week, the store was locked up, its facade scrawled with a new address on Atlantic Avenue.

Today, another release touts several hires at the magazine. George Lois, creator of Esquire's most iconic magazine covers of the 1960s and Pentagram's Luke Hayman have been tapped to redesign the magazine. Jamie Hooper, who launched Giant magazine in 2004, will be 02138's new publisher. And David Blum, the editorial director of Manhattan Media and the editor in chief of the New York Press, will become editor-in-chief of 02138 when it resumes printing with its December/January issue.

Mr. Blum, who had previously been editor in chief at The Village Voice but whose tenure there was rocky and brief, has stepped aside from his role at the Press, handing the reins to Jerry Portwood, the paper's managing editor since 2006. Mr. Blum, who'd been top editor at the paper for 10 months, says he'll still be around the Press offices. "I'm just there to help if needed," he told Media Mob.

Mr. Portwood, 31, whose first issue as editor in chief is out now, says one thing he plans to bring to the paper is an outsider's perspective on the city. "I'm a new New Yorker, I am told. I've been here for four years," he said. "I'm not interested in whining about the city. I'm interested in talking about the city to people who are still coming to the city." Mr. Portwood recently hired a new Arts editor, Adam Rathe, late of The Brooklyn Paper.

In taking over 02138, Mr. Blum thinks the magazine can be repositioned as a general-interest publication. "Harvard overlaps with, and connects to, all the important issues of the day and every aspect of culture and politics I can basically think of," says Mr. Blum, who isn't a graduate of the university. (He attended University of Chicago and graduated in 1977.) The editor believes that his lack of time spent in the Yard (or even the Quad!) is an asset. "I've always found that in my career that a certain distance is healthy," he says. "I'm sort of glad that I have an open mind about the whole thing."

When he approached Mr. Lois and Mr. Hayman to "tweak" the look of the magazine and "make it our own," he says he got lucky. "The two people in New York City I most admire in the field of art direction and design are Lois and Hayman."

Mr. Lois, whose work was recently installed at the Museum of Modern Art, hadn't heard of 02138 when Mr. Blum reached out to him, but the 77-year-old former ad man came to the Manhattan Media office carrying a Zabar's bag "with a bunch of his books" and spent four hours talking with Mr. Blum about Esquire in its glory days. "It was surreal," says Mr. Blum, who plans to implement similar single-topic covers as those pioneered by Mr. Lois.

Other 02138 hires include managing editor Daniel Adkison, who'd previously worked with Mr. Blum at The Voice as that paper's copy chief and most recently worked for Portfolio; Greg Atwan, who'd been an associate editor at 02138 has been promoted to senior editor; and Kimberley Thorpe, a staff writer for the Press will also serve as an associate editor for the magazine.

The next issue of 02138 will feature the third iteration of the magazine's Harvard 100—the last of which included everyone from Barack Obama to Conan O'Brien—and will appear in December.

Here's a quote from Voice-legend Tom Robbins in the brief:

The problem is the Press had that same quote, and there was no attribution crediting them. Catherine Mathis, spokeswoman for the Times said that the Press attribution "fell out" during the editing process. "They should have been credited for their reporting," she wrote in an e-mail. "It has been fixed online and we will submit a For the Record correction to the paper tonight."

"We are adamant that there won't be any givebacks here,” said Tom Robbins, Voice legend and de-facto spokesman for the Voice's incredibly strong union, represented by United Auto Workers Local 2110. “We pay through the nose. We pay co-payments that are very expensive for our members with children. They want more co-payments, they want more, more.”

“If we don't get it, all bets are off,” Robbins warned.

"It was a column that was intended to be and was a specific narrative of her experience, but ultimately it wasn't to my taste," Mr. Blum said over the phone.

"I don't want to try to characterize them," he answered of whether the columns were too explicit. "They speak for themselves."

In a column published on Dec. 26, Ms. Kreth dishes about her attraction to Internet-celeb Paul Janka and her predilication for posteriors stemming from a visit to the doctor as a little girl.

"My tight pink asshole is relaxed and ready for you, Paul. In fact, I can feel it blowing kisses your way as I type. [My editor will eat this up, and there is nothing better than having your editor eating up your pink asshole.]."

The lines of communication must have crossed somewhere, because Mr. Blum said he never instructed Ms. Kreth to focus more on sex (she told The Observer earlier today that Mr. Blum didn't like her earlier, largely sex-less columns), and they both understood it to be a sex and relationships column. Though readers responded both "positively and negatively" to Ms. Kreth's writing, Mr. Blum took full responsibility for her dismissal.

"I felt that she had a very specific voice, that I didn’t want to change but at same time it wasn’t going in the direction I wanted," he said. "The judgement was based on my own feelings and not reader reaction."

The New York Press has no plans to hire a new sex columnist.