In the late 80s and early 90s, Newsday published a City edition that was intended to challenge the News and Post on the tabloid front. Of the three, Newsday was far and away the best paper. It even gave the Times a run for its money – Newsday certainly had much better Metro coverage, and it even won the Pulitzer two years running for its international coverage (in one of those years the Times didn’t win a Pulitzer at all). The City edition was a money loser, though, so in the mid-90s Newsday retreated back to Long Island (you can still find it on Brooklyn newsstands, but the coverage is almost exclusively Long Island-based).

Now Cablevision, which bought Newsday last year, has announced the paper will “end the distribution of free Web content and make our newsgathering capabilities a service to our customers”. They plan to do this by “transforming Newsday’s Web site into an enhanced, locally focused cable service that we believe will become an important benefit for Newsday and Cablevision customers”. In other words, Newsday will become even more parochial.

Newsday and Cablevision aren’t sharing any details on how they plan to avoid being the next newspaper casualty, but I’m sure the Dolan family knows what they’re doing. They’re astute businessmen – I’m sure they wouldn’t run a good franchise into the ground.

[via Gothamist]

With both Malcom Smith and Sheldon Silver on board, tolls on the Williamsburg Bridge might not be that far off. I’m not particularly opposed to the idea, particularly if the toll is pegged to the cost of a subway ride, but agree with Marty, who says there should be a comprehensive commuter tax (again), not just tolls on the bridges. (And remember, it was Silver who killed congestion pricing, which was effectively a commuter tax – a comprehensive, well-thought-out one at that.) A $2 toll shouldn’t result in a huge increase in parking on local streets, but still, any toll should come with a local permit program to prevent auto commuters from using Brooklyn nabes for free parking.

And why is that City-owned bridges are being used to generate revenue for the MTA? If there are going to be tolls, shouldn’t the money be used to help the City budget?

Thanks to some great detective work (right out of TV), the bat-man in the brutal beating of Jose Sucuzhañay was arrested. According the News, he’s going with self defense.

ARTCAL reports on nbPAC’s successful launch.

BEDT State Park is still closed, and the prospects of it opening anytime before April seem to be getting slimmer faster. As the News reports, the sticking point is the inability of Friends of East River State Park to secure the necessary insurance. The insurance requirement is an annoyance, but not an unreasonable request on the part of the State. And it shouldn’t be a deal killer here – from what I understand, Friends has a lot of offers to help secure the necessary insurance. As it stands, we’ve lost a month already, and will probably lose another one.

Its just a form of nihilism.

Jose Sucuzhanay was the father of two children, who live with their grandparents in Ecuador. He came to the United States a decade ago in search of work, became a waiter and got his real estate license three years ago, eventually starting his own agency.

Wow. That didn’t take long. The package redesign was pointless and confusing, but I fully expected to be looking at pointless and confusing orange juice cartons for years to come.

[via DF]

The neighborhood needs toilet paper and paper towels more than another bank.

Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint, though the article could have been written about any neighborhood in NYC (curiously a lot of banks popped up around Havemeyer and Broadway, but only one in the Northside – do hipsters not bank).