THE MAIN STREET WIRE

'The Main Street WIRE' is the community newspaper of Roosevelt Island, part of Manhattan in New York City. It is published every two weeks (monthly in July and August) and is distributed to every residence on the island. It is currently published by Managing Editor Dick Lutz, co-author (as Richard J. Lutz) of the historical novel, ''Jadwiga's Crossing'' ([1]).

Contents

History

Community Orientation / ''The WIRE'' Today

Funding, Advertising and Distribution

Website

Current Editors and Staff

External links

History

The WIRE was first published in 1981 by Dr. Jack Resnick, founded following an accident that took the Roosevelt Island Tramway out of service for several months, making travel to and from the island difficult. The incident was scarcely reported on by major New York City news sources at the time, so Resnick and several other residents founded ''The WIRE'' to report local news. Residents received the new publication enthusiastically. Several contributed to the paper. The chosen name is an acronym based on the names of the island’s first four residential buildings: Westview, Island House, Rivercross, and Eastwood.
Editors since its founding have included Jim Bowser (now editor emeritus) and current Managing Editor Dick Lutz.

Community Orientation / ''The WIRE'' Today

Since its founding, The WIRE’s focus has always been principally on the Roosevelt Island community. It does not report on national or international news unless there is a direct and special effect on island residents. It is independent of both the Roosevelt Island Operating Cooperation (RIOC) and the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA), though the president of each organization contributes a column.
Residents’ letters are an important component of The WIRE’s editorial page, supplying a forum for residents to comment on the performance of RIOC, which is a New York State agency. (Roosevelt Island, New York City property, was leased to New York State for 99 years starting in 1969 for development of housing.)

Funding, Advertising and Distribution

The WIRE’s primary funding is from advertising, though its publisher (or “owner”) has traditionally subsidized it when necessary. Advertisers include island and off-island businesses. The paper is distributed to every residence on the island, and copies are also available at local stores and businesses. The WIRE also offers off-island subscriptions at 50 dollars per year.

Website

The WIRE is closely associated with Website NYC10044 (http://nyc10044.com), which carries back issues, supplemental material (such as transcripts of important meetings and interviews), and an island history (http://nyc10044.com/timeln/timeline.html).

Current Editors and Staff

★ Managing Editor - Dick Lutz

★ Reporters - Jami Bernard, Mary Camper-Titsingh, Rachel Durfee

★ Photographers - Maria Casotti, Paul Katz, Susheel Kurien

★ Chief Proofreader - Linda Heimer

★ Proofreaders - Ashton Barfield, Dick Fitzpatrick, Lilian Shaman

★ Advertising Sales - Ellen Levy, Stu Feit

★ Circulation Managers - Sherie Helstien, Matthew Katz, Teri Sheridan

★ Circulation Assistant - Dexter Benjamin

★ Legal Counsel - Lewis Perkiss

★ Human Resources - David Bauer

★ ''Website NYC10044'' Facilities - Frank Farance

★ NYC10044.com Webmaster - Elena Zarembo

★ Founding Publisher - Jack Resnick

★ Editor Emeritus - Jim Bowser

External links

★ http://MainStreetWIRE.com

★ http://nyc10044.com