Manhattan Media & Straus News

New York, NY 2011-2015

I began my journalism career covering hyperlocal news for The West Side Spirit and Our Town, two legacy weekly newspapers covering the Upper West Side and Upper East Side in Manhattan.

As a reporter, I covered everything from community board meeting debates on arcane historic preservation rules to protests against a waste processing center slated to be built next to a kids’ soccer field to beloved neighborhood characters and institutions.

As managing editor, I organized coverage and planned the weekly editorial calendar, managed freelancers and staff reporters, collaborated with photographers and designers on the layouts, ran social media and edited everything in the papers.

In four years at the papers, I developed an expertise in local politics, religious institutions struggling to balance dwindling congregations with the enormous costs of maintaining historic structures, and iconic small businesses staying afloat in a sea of chain restaurants and banks on every block.