The internet has totally transformed our world, and the newspaper industry remains in freefall…
Earlier this month the publisher of the Syracuse New Times, Bill Brod, announced that — after 50 years — the alternative weekly would fold with its June 26 edition.
In March the New Times dropped its free newspaper status in favor of a subscription model. Individual papers sold at newsstands for $1.50, but subscribers got a discount and earned access to an online version.
Brod told interviewers that too few readers bothered to subscribe, spelling doom for the alternately breezy and brazen counter-cultural periodical.
For me, the end of the New Times challenges my reality. After all, I’d only known a few dark years without it in the late ’50s and early ’60s. Otherwise, it’s been there like an old and trusted friend who alerted you to the best shows to see, the worst politicians to avoid and the best restaurants to patronize. I sold my first freelance story to the paper in 1974 about one of my college professors at SUNY Oswego who wrote a play about Mickey Mouse that was censored by the Disney Corporation. I was paid $25.
I took a full-time job there in 1982 when the office was located in Armory Square before being laid off the following year due to budget constraints. Six years later, I became the New Times’ music and books editor and won shelves full of writing awards until a yuppie editor unceremoniously axed me for daring to speak my mind in the office.
Recurring dreams
Nevertheless, my years there were certainly some of the best in my life. Even now — almost 20 years after my firing — one of my most common recurring dreams places me back in the upstairs office at West Genesee Street, toiling under deadlines under the editorship of Mike Greenstein.
As in real life there, in my dreams I’m always awash in free stuff — CDs, films, lavishly illustrated hardcover books — and I’m trying to figure out how to write about them all…
More recently, I returned to the paper as a freelance contributor, covering the Syracuse Area Music Awards, profiling area rock ’n’ rollers and reviewing records. BTW, the New Times paid much better in the 21st century than it did in the 20th, so I’ll miss the income that work brought me as well as the cachet that comes with writing for an established alternative weekly.
The Syracuse Press Club noted the paper’s sad passing: “This weekly paper spotlighted the offbeat, the alternative, the unique and the compelling stories of Central NY. The paper had engaged our community with some of the area’s best reporters and columnists. Any loss in local journalism, whether it be in print, TV, radio, or digital, is a loss for the community as a whole.”
For five decades, the New Times managed to stay alive as a free paper because its guaranteed free circulation — which I believe topped out at about 45,000 — allowed it to charge relatively high rates for ad space.
Not any more. Facebook’s also free, and it’s 24/7.
Pizza Villa revived
After six solid months of darkness and doubt, Pizza Villa appears to have finally straightened up and is flying right. New owner Mitch Cometti has reopened the restaurant at 409 Tulip St. and rechristened it as a “Pizzeria & Fish Fry.”
While still focusing on pizza pies, calzones, garlic knots, wings and sub sandwiches, Mitch has expanded the menu to include salads, burgers, Italian dinner entrees and seafood.
Located at the corner of Tulip and Oswego streets, Pizza Villa is open until 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and closes at 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 9:30 p.m. on Sundays. To order take-out or free delivery, call 315-451-4200.
Pickle plans
The Brooklyn Pickle sandwich shop plans to open its new location at 7175 Buckley Road on Monday, July 1, according to vice president Craig Kowadla. The restaurant is located on the site of the former Hafner’s Red Barn, which closed its doors in 2008.
Brooklyn Pickle opened on Burnet Avenue in 1975 and later built a second location on the city’s West End.
Rockin’ at Rocky’s
Owners Janice and Gary Rockdashil are booking live music at Rocky’s Pub, at 209 Oswego St., in the old Ponderosa Plaza. Eric Scott plugs in there for Bike Night, at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 26, followed by vivacious vocalist Kim Fetters, at 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 28. Ryan Mattar plays there July 3 at 6 p.m., and Jess Novak takes the stage July 10.
For info, visit rockys-pub.com, or call 315-214-3200.
Last word
“We are incredibly disappointed to have arrived at this decision, but see no options remaining to press onward in our current format. It is clear the public is comfortable and more interested in using other platforms to keep informed of events and activities in our community.”
—New Times Publisher Bill Brod
