Christ. Three familiar bylines at the Voice were reportedly among those laid off today:
The damages include longtime writers Michael Musto, Robert Sietsema and Michael Feingold.
Per Gawker, who first reported on the layoffs: "We're told that the paper's remaining staff is 'devastated' and in 'uproar.'"
Sietsema shared his thoughts on East Village restaurants in this interview with me last September.
[Image via Fork in the Road]
Wow. Musto is a legend. Shocking news.
ReplyDeleteMusto was the only reason I ever picked up the paper.
ReplyDeleteSietsema would (usually) find affordable and unpretentious restaurants. If I read management's statement on the firings correctly, he didn't address their target demographic (which doesn't include me, either; so no point in bothering with it).
ReplyDeleteManagement's statement can be found here:
http://www.altweeklies.com/aan/restructuring-at-the-village-voice/Article?oid=7079465
Well that's it. The Voice is gone. Pretty much sums up the current state of affairs here in town: absolutely no regard for soul, history, or anything else that made this town 'cool'.
ReplyDeleteSeriously. No Musto at the Voice?!?! Shame. Serious, serious shame. I cant believe how upset I am, but I feel like this is a final straw. This town has jumped the gun. I'll be getting severely hammered tonite in sadness.
Salut to you all that keep the fire burning bright in whatever way you can. Heres to dark, weird, Olde New York.
Done. With. The. Voice.
ReplyDeleteMusto was their Rhett Butler. Gees!
Oh, come on, let's not feed this into the "Olde Weird New York is vanishing, VANISHING" narrative. This is an old media company whose business model was destroyed by the Internet being looted by assholes. Musto and Siestema will be FINE. They'll probably both land at New York Mag or something. Keeping it weird does not depend on keeping some colorful old hacks at a particular dated media property.
ReplyDeleteWow, been reading Musto in the Voice for too many years to count. I know times have been tough over there and the big company had been looking to gut it as much as possible, but I still held out hope for its future somehow. Can't even imagine reading it anymore now.
ReplyDeleteAnd I had just gotten over the nausea of seeing a commercial with John Varvatos hawking a fucking car, cashing in on his Bowery 'cred'. There's nothing more to say; it's Fro-Yo's world - we all just live in it.
I gave up on the VV when they fired Wayne Barrett and started featuring endless pics of club kids at parties for Absolut or whatever other corporate sponsor needed publicity.
ReplyDeleteThere was a time when the sum total of the Voice was something to reckon with...something to look forward to each week. Yes, Anon 5:25, REALLY, DuDe!
ReplyDeleteWhen Nat Hentoff and Alex Cockburn got axxed..I said enuff
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that Ben Shaoul owned the Voice.
ReplyDeleteThe Voice is just bad identity politics and sex ads. I stopped reading it decades ago.
ReplyDelete1:07 agree totally
ReplyDeleteI was extremely devastated when Lynn Yaeger was laid off a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteI am officially done with Village Voice, now that they are laying off one of their very few saving graces, Michael Musto.
See ya at the garbage bin!