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''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper established in 1987. In 2016, it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainment and publishing industries.


History

The ''Observer'' was first published in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
on September 22, 1987, as a weekly
alternative newspaper An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting ...
by
Arthur L. Carter Arthur L. Carter (born December 24, 1931) is an American investment banker, publisher, and visual artist. Biography Born to a Jewish family, Carter graduated from Brown University in 1953 with a degree in French literature. He served in the U ...
, a former
investment banker Investment banking is an advisory-based financial service for institutional investors, corporations, governments, and similar clients. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by unde ...
. The ''New York Observer'' had also been the title of an earlier weekly religious paper founded 164 years before by
Sidney E. Morse Sidney Edwards Morse (7 February 1794 – 24 December 1871) was an American inventor, geographer and journalist. Morse was the brother of telegraphy pioneer and painter Samuel F. B. Morse. Biography Morse was the son of geographer and clergyma ...
in 1823. After almost two decades, in July 2006, the paper was purchased by the American real estate figure
Jared Kushner Jared Corey Kushner (born January 10, 1981) is an American businessman and investor. He is a son-in-law of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, through his marriage to Ivanka Trump and served as a senior advisor in his father-in- ...
, then only 25 years old. The paper began its life as a
broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of in height. Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper ...
, and was then printed in tabloid format every Wednesday, and currently has an exclusively online format on an internet website. It is headquartered at 1
Whitehall Street Whitehall Street is a street in the South Ferry (Manhattan), South Ferry/Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City, near the southern tip of Manhattan Island. The street begins at Bowling ...
in lower
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
. Previous prominent writers for the publication include
Joe Conason Joe Conason (born January 25, 1954) is an American journalist, author and liberal political commentator. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of ''The National Memo'', a daily political newsletter and website that features breaking news and comm ...
,
Doree Shafrir Doree Shafrir (born May 16, 1977) is an American author and podcast host. She was previously an editor at ''Rolling Stone'', Gawker and ''The New York Observer'' and a senior writer at BuzzFeed. She is the author of the novel ''STARTUP'' and co-e ...
,
Hilton Kramer Hilton Kramer (March 25, 1928 – March 27, 2012) was an American art critic and essayist. Biography Early life Kramer was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts into a Jewish immigrant family, and was educated at Syracuse University, receiving a b ...
,
Andrew Sarris Andrew Sarris (October 31, 1928 – June 20, 2012) was an American film critic. He was a leading proponent of the auteur theory of film criticism. Early life Sarris was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Greek immigrant parents, Themis (née Kat ...
,
Richard Brookhiser Richard Brookhiser (; born February 23, 1955) is an American journalist, biographer and historian. He is a senior editor at ''National Review''. He is most widely known for a series of biographies of America's founders, including Alexander Hamilt ...
,
Michael Tomasky Michael John Tomasky (born October 13, 1960) is an American columnist, progressive commentator, and author. He is the editor of ''The New Republic'' and editor in chief of ''Democracy''. He has been a special correspondent for ''Newsweek'', '' Th ...
,
Azi Paybarah Azi Paybarah is a New York-based journalist who focuses on local politics. He worked as a reporter for the ''New York Press'', the ''Queens Tribune'' and the ''New York Sun''. In February 2011, Paybarah returned to ''The New York Observer'' which h ...
,
Ross Barkan Ross Elliot Barkan (born October 22, 1989) is an American journalist, novelist, and essayist. Early life and education Barkan grew up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. He attended Stony Brook University and earned a master's degree from New York Univers ...
,
John Heilpern John David Heilpern (8 April 1942 – 7 January 2021) was a British theatre critic, journalist, and author who worked both in the United Kingdom and the United States. He was a contributing editor to '' Vanity Fair'' (where he wrote the "Out To ...
,
Robert Gottlieb Robert Adams Gottlieb (April 29, 1931 – June 14, 2023) was an American writer and editor. He was the editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster, Alfred A. Knopf, and ''The New Yorker''. Gottlieb joined Simon & Schuster in 1955 as an editorial ass ...
,
Nicholas von Hoffman Nicholas von Hoffman (October 16, 1929 – February 1, 2018) was an American journalist and author. He first worked as a community organizer for Saul Alinsky in Chicago for ten years from 1953 to 1963. Later, Von Hoffman wrote for ''The Washingt ...
,
Simon Doonan Simon Doonan (born 1952
Simon Doonan, ''< ...
,
Anne Roiphe Anne Roiphe (born December 25, 1935) is an American writer and journalist. She is best known as a first-generation feminist and author of the novel ''Up the Sandbox'' (1970), filmed as a starring vehicle for Barbra Streisand in 1972. In 1996, '' ...
,
Terry Golway Terry Golway is an American historian, author, and a journalist, having served as a columnist and editorial board member for ''The New York Times'' and a long-time editor and writer at ''The New York Observer''. Career In 2010, Golway discovered a ...
,
Ron Rosenbaum Ronald Rosenbaum (born November 27, 1946) is an American literary journalist, literary critic, and novelist. Early life and education Rosenbaum was born into a Jewish family in New York City and grew up in Bay Shore, New York, on Long Island. ...
, Michael M. Thomas,
Philip Weiss Philip Weiss is an American journalist who co-edits '' Mondoweiss'' ("a news website devoted to covering American foreign policy in the Middle East, chiefly from a progressive Jewish perspective") with journalist Adam Horowitz. Weiss describes h ...
, and
Steve Kornacki Stephan Joseph Kornacki Jr. (born August 22, 1979) is an American political journalist, writer, and television presenter. Kornacki is a national political correspondent for NBC News. He has written articles for ''Salon'', ''The New York Observer ...
. The paper published
Candace Bushnell Candace Bushnell (born December 1, 1958) is an American author, journalist, and television producer. She wrote a column for ''The New York Observer'' (1994–96) that was adapted into the bestselling ''Sex and the City'' anthology. The book was ...
's column "
Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...
" about Manhattan's social life and emotional relationships on which the trend-setting popular television series ''
Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...
'' (later also with two successful feature films) is based. It was visually distinctive because of its use of sketch illustrations and salmon-colored newsprint, with the latter compared to the similar physical appearance of the ''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
'' from
Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
.
Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, comedian, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1 ...
once described it as "the curiously pink newspaper". The paper switched in 2014 to using regular white newsprint for its last two years on paper. The fourth and longest-serving editor for the newspaper,
Peter Kaplan Peter Wennik Kaplan (February 10, 1954 – November 29, 2013) was an American editor known for modernizing New Journalism for the digital age. He was the editor-in-chief of the ''New York Observer'', a weekly newspaper, for 15 years. ''The Kin ...
, left the publication on July 1, 2009. Interim editor Tom McGeveran was replaced by Kyle Pope later that year in November 2009. Two years later,
Elizabeth Spiers Elizabeth Spiers (born December 11, 1976) is an American web publisher and journalist, the founding editor of '' Gawker'', a media gossip blog. From February 2011 until August 2012, she was the editor of ''The New York Observer''. Early life a ...
then served as editor for a year from 2011 to 2012, followed by interim editor Aaron Gell. In January 2013, publisher Jared Kushner named his longtime friend
Ken Kurson Kenneth Kurson (born 1968) is an American political consultant, writer, journalist, and former musician, who was editor-in-chief of ''The New York Observer'' between 2013 and 2017. In 2020 he was charged by federal prosecutors with cyberstalking ...
, a political consultant, journalist, and author, as the ''Observer''s next editor. Publication of the weekly print edition ended with the November 9, 2016 issue. Observer Media, the publication's parent company, has continued to publish content on an online website under the masthead title of the "Observer" (dropping "New York" from the name). The discontinuation of the print ''Observer'' came the day after editor Kushner's father-in-law,
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
(Trump's daughter Ivanka is Kushner's wife), won the
2016 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kiri ...
; becoming the 45th
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
, serving one term to 2021. Kushner served as a senior adviser in the
Trump administration Presidency of Donald Trump may refer to: * First presidency of Donald Trump, the United States presidential administration from 2017 to 2021 * Second presidency of Donald Trump, the United States presidential administration since 2025 See also * ...
. Kushner transferred his ownership of Observer Media's remaining online assets into a Trump family trust, through which his brother-in-law Joseph Meyer took over his former role as publisher during that time.


Ownership

The publisher and original owner, Arthur Carter, has had other publishing interests, including the ''Litchfield County Times''. At one time, he was a part‑owner in ''
The East Hampton Star ''The East Hampton Star'' is a weekly, privately owned newspaper published each Thursday in East Hampton, New York. It is one of the few independent, family-owned newspapers still existing in the United States. The owners live in East Hampton Tow ...
''. Carter received a B.A. in French literature from
Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...
and an M.B.A. in finance from the
Tuck School of Business The Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College is the graduate business school of Dartmouth College, a private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. It was founded in 1900 as the first institution in th ...
at
Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
. He spent 25 years in investment banking until 1981, when he founded the ''Litchfield County Times'' in
New Milford, Connecticut New Milford is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The town, part of Greater Danbury, as well as the New York Metropolitan Area, has a population of 28,115 as of the 2020 census. New Milford lies north of Danbury on the ...
. He owned it for twenty years until selling to
Journal Register Company 21st Century Media was an American media company. It was the successor of Ingersoll Publications and Journal Register Company, and it was succeeded by Digital First Media. The company operated more than 350 multi-platform products in 992 comm ...
, later also selling his 50‑percent interest in ''The East Hampton Star'' in 2003. He has been an adjunct professor of philosophy and journalism at
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
and is a trustee. In July 2006,
Jared Kushner Jared Corey Kushner (born January 10, 1981) is an American businessman and investor. He is a son-in-law of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, through his marriage to Ivanka Trump and served as a senior advisor in his father-in- ...
, a 25‑year‑old law student and son of a wealthy New Jersey developer,
Charles Kushner Charles Kushner (born May 16, 1954) is an American real estate developer and disbarred attorney who founded Kushner Companies in 1985. In 2005, Kushner was convicted of illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering, and ...
, purchased the paper for just under $10million. In January 2017, Jared Kushner announced he would sell his stake to a Kushner family trust, when he became a senior advisor to President Donald Trump. Kushner's brother-in-law, Joseph Meyer, who has been the CEO of Observer Media Group since 2013, replaced him as publisher.


Political stance

In 2016, the ''Observer'' became one of a handful of newspapers to officially endorse United States presidential candidate
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
in the Republican Party presidential primaries. The newspaper's owner and then publisher, Jared Kushner, is Trump's son-in-law and was an advisor to the Trump presidential campaign. The ''Observer'' did not repeat its endorsement after Trump became the Republican nominee for President.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:New York Observer Newspapers published in New York City Newspapers established in 1987 Online newspapers with defunct print editions American news websites 1987 establishments in New York City Publications disestablished in 2016 Weekly newspapers published in the United States