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.
