Gothamist continues to lose readers, city public radio station guts it

 

NY Post

The lay offs were part of deeper cost-cutting at WNYC that impacted 14 positions or 4 percent of staff, across the organization as it copes with a dramatic fall off in contributions due to COVID-19, despite landing $8.9 million from the federal payroll protection program, the news organization said.

WNYC CEO Goli Skeikholeslami in a memo told to staffers that the station is entering fiscal year 2022 with “a sizeable deficit” as sponsorship funding plunged 27 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels. “And we cannot achieve our goals and meet our commitments while shouldering a fourth year of losses.” 

Skeikholeslami said the cuts affected four jobs in news and 10 in other departments. The company also implemented a series of other cutbacks, including the “freezing of pay hikes for employees making over $100,000, cutting retirement contributions to the 403(b) plan by 50 percent from July through year end and capping vacation carryover days at 10 this year and five next year.”

“In aggregate, the actions we are announcing today reduce our deficit by $3 million for FY22, enabling us to get on a path to financial sustainability.  Without taking the additional cost-saving measures, the number of staff cuts would have been far greater,” she said.    

Both Del Signore and Robbins were survivors of Gothamist’s near-death experience in 2017 when Joe Rickets, the billionaire founder of TD Ameritrade whose family owns the Chicago Cubs, pulled the plug on it and sister website DNAinfo. 

Aw, I was looking forward to Robbins' follow up story of the big "open streets"mystery alleging the NYPD had something to do with throwing the barricades in Newtown Creek. Idiot.

Gothamist fucked up

 

 

 

 

 

 

When fences make bad neighbors

Well folks, Gothamist has done it again. The blog that hates anything associated with perceived outer borough "whiteness" recently featured in an article the story of a loving Asian family who bought a home in Broadway-Flushing and wanted to erect a fence "to protect their kids" but was being thwarted by the big bad white homeowners association. Except that is not the case at all. Paul Graziano, urban planner, put together this rebuttal which also serves as a great Queens history lesson and a guide to others with, or seeking to buy, property in a deed restricted neighborhood. I'll also add that the homeowner in the Gothamist article has owned his home for 17 years and therefore must have been well aware of what he could and could not do with it. If not, then shame on him. Happy reading!

Gothamist Response RE Broadway Flushing Deed Restrictions February 21st 2020 by queenscrapper on Scribd

Gothamist Response RE Broadway-Flushing Deed Restrictions - Addendum - February 21st 2020 by queenscrapper on Scribd

Gothamist & BP Eric Adams lie about Maspeth shelter hearing

From Gothamist:

Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Steven Banks was drowned out by hundreds of angry Queens residents on Thursday night, as he attempted to make a case for a new homeless shelter for adult families in place of the Holiday Inn Express at 59-40 55th Road in Maspeth.

"To the people yelling at me in the front row saying, 'They [the proposed shelter residents] should go back to East New York,' I just want to emphasize again that there are 243 of your neighbors in shelter," Banks said, before he was drowned out by boos.
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From Brooklyn BP Eric Adams press release:

BP ADAMS STATEMENT ON TROUBLING COMMENTS MADE REGARDING HOMELESS SHELTER SITING AND EAST NEW YORK

“I am troubled by the sentiments shared by a number of individuals at a public meeting that discussed a proposal for an adult family homeless shelter in Queens. Homelessness comes from every corner of our city. We cannot accept any attempt to pit New Yorker against New Yorker, no matter how passionate we may feel about the quality of life issues in our communities. The select few who call out for homeless people to go ‘back to East New York,’ especially in the context of a gathering regarding a newly proposed facility and not a re-siting from that neighborhood, are raising a concerning specter of bias that must be addressed, be it on the basis of race, socioeconomic status, or any other factor.
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The only problem is that this is not what happened. Here is the video:



ONE person sitting near the front shouted "This is not East New York" when the DHS Commissioner asserted that there are 243 people from Maspeth in the homeless system, which has already been proven to be a lie. Obviously, East New York is an economically depressed community which will have more homeless people than Maspeth. (But it's more fun to make facts up in order to produce sensationalistic headlines.)

FYI, Eric Adams is planning to run against de Blasio.

Adventures in blog poaching

Just wanted to mention that the Daily News, Gothamist, and DNA Info all ran with my Van by the River story. None credited New York Shitty or Queens Crap (although DNA Info reporter claims her editor took it out). This is the epitome of Lazy Journalism 101. The sad thing is that not only do I always give them proper attribution and provide links to their stories, but I often send their reporters tips on things that I don't put on the blog. (Thankfully, Curbed showed more professionalism and linked to the correct source.)

If these "reporters" had any talent as journalists, they wouldn't need to poach off amateurs. And what further info did they add? None of them called Jimmy Van Bramer, the Mayor's office or AirBnB to inquire as to how the hell this is allowed to go on in NYC.

And here's a dose of whoopass straight from the original source.

- QC

UPDATE DNA Info & Gothamist have corrected their stories to provide attribution.