"We're vampires here."

February 11, 2015 4:17 PM

How The New York Times Works
posted by roomthreeseventeen (10 comments total)

This is a fascinating post. Thanks.
posted by key_of_z at 5:26 PM on February 11, 2015

Great post.

I didn't realise the NYT's headquarters was so big. (In contrast, the Guardian/Observer fits on 3½ floors (albeit perhaps with a larger footprint) and the Murdoch obelisk near London Bridge, which houses the Times, the Sun and the local WSJ operation, isn't much bigger.) Are all those floors occupied by the NYT?

A modern newspaper printing plant is indeed an awesome thing to behold, because of the sheer scale of it; I got to do a tour of the Guardian's print works last year; it was somewhat like walking through a huge office printer. The colour separations on the pages are printed using coated aluminium sheets affixed to giant rollers; the sheets are etched with an image of the layer, used once and then melted down for scrap, except for the handful which are given as souvenirs to the tour groups. I still have one of the front page of that previous weekend's Observer, with the MH370 story on it.
posted by acb at 5:33 PM on February 11, 2015

I always sort of forget that newspaper are still printed. It's been so long since I read one on actual paper.
posted by octothorpe at 5:52 PM on February 11, 2015 [2 favorites]

I speak as a former newspaper reporter when I say this: the other night I went to a sculpture class and the teacher wanted to bust out some newspaper and at first I was all, "Newspaper? We can still find any?" Followed by, "crap,where are we gonna get more of this?"

SAD.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:22 PM on February 11, 2015

"A plant worker attaches the end of each roll to the start of the next using giant pieces of tape, so the press never has to stop."

One of the little things in the world that thrills me is when you get the page in the newspaper that's printed across the overlap, so that you have a diagonal partial page with no print on it. My grandmother happened to be babysitting me the first time I saw it, when I was reading the comics, and she told me the newspaper put it in there so you'd have space to draw pictures, and we proceeded to do that.

This makes me a little bit miss the bustle of a newsroom, but mostly be glad I don't have to stay up that late anymore. The 24/7 news operation now does make me sad that when the paper goes to press, the news day isn't over anymore. I always liked the feeling of being one of the last few lingering people in the newsroom struggling to finish the paper, and then getting to turn off the lights and lock the door and GO HOME and have finished a product that is DONE. There are not too many white-collar jobs where you get to finish a discrete product every day, and then move on to the next one.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:34 PM on February 11, 2015 [10 favorites]

when you get the page in the newspaper that's printed across the overlap, so that you have a diagonal partial page with no print on it

I wonder if it's anything like the little thrill I get when an airplane's shadow passes over me.

Great post, thanks for sharing.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 6:48 PM on February 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

Excellent article

I didn't realise the NYT's headquarters was so big. (In contrast, the Guardian/Observer fits on 3½ floors (albeit perhaps with a larger footprint) and the Murdoch obelisk near London Bridge, which houses the Times, the Sun and the local WSJ operation, isn't much bigger.) Are all those floors occupied by the NYT?

I don't think the Times ever occupied more than 40% of the building. A big chunk went to a law firm IIRC (actually Legg Mason, per Google), and that got them to the thresh hold needed for construction. That and some nasty work in the part of the Empire State Dev Corp and lots of unduly generous PILOTs. Always wondered if there was some internal / editorial restriction on referencing the fact that most of the critiques leveled at Bruce Ratner during the development of the Atlantic Yards site would directly apply to the his work on the Times site.

Ah, some relevant details:
Forest City Ratner, which owns floors 29 through 52 with its financial partner ING Real Estate, expects it will be open for occupancy by the second quarter of 2007. The New York Times owns floors 2 though 28.


I believe the Times has subleased some of its space.
posted by 99_ at 6:51 PM on February 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

nine shelves, four deep, like soup cans in a grocery store for giants

Great
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 6:53 PM on February 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

I used to work here and as one of my perks, got to tour the printing plant. It's a huge treat for anyone who loves the physical written word.
posted by lwray at 8:56 PM on February 11, 2015

Eyebrows McGee: My grandmother happened to be babysitting me the first time I saw it, when I was reading the comics, and she told me the newspaper put it in there so you'd have space to draw pictures, and we proceeded to do that.

Your grandmother was magnificent.
posted by IAmBroom at 8:48 AM on February 12, 2015 [2 favorites]