How sweet it is!
The Bay News turns 70 years old next month in a triumphant milestone we could not have achieved without you, our loyal readers.
You pick up the paper week after week, month after month, year after year, and decade after decade, to make us your final word in community news and the pulsating heart of Brooklyn, crossroads of the world.
We were the media monarch of Kings County long before the digital age, but we reinvented ourselves in the new millennium as the flagship publication of a correspondence consortium, covering most of Brooklyn to accommodate our growing audiences while continuing to deliver hyper-local news to your doorstep and pioneer new industry trends.
• We were the ones who told you that speed hogs made waiting for a bus in Manhattan Beach a nightmare.
• You learned from us that a landowner schemed to tear down the Coney Island complex where Harpo Marx made his comic debut.
• We notified you that the Sheepshead Bay Post Office replaced its bedraggled American flag and spiffed up its other Stars and Stripes following our inquiries.
• We were the first in the state to publish a gay wedding guide after New York legalized same-sex marriages.
Our anniversary issue is a word and picture adventure containing more than a few surprises. Did you know, for instance, that the Bay News started as an army newsletter during World War II? Or that its founder was a minister?
Our story is made proudly in Brooklyn, and this commemorative edition chronicles our ascension from a hometown bulletin serving Sheepshead Bay and surrounding communities into a citywide syndicate of 20 community newspapers, 15 websites, a dozen specialty publications, and several annual events owned and operated by Courier Life Publications and Community News Group.
We survived a fire, a gas explosion, floods, storms, and an anthrax scare without missing a deadline, and always returning bigger, better, stronger, and smarter.
We were flattered — quite frequently as it happened — when national news outlets scavenged our scoops. The Huffington Post, the Colbert Report, and others rehashed our exclusive about Brooklyn tots ditching their bottles and juice boxes for mini decaf cappuccinos called “babyccinos.” We made headlines when a Yuletide drone masquerading as mobile mistletoe at a local TGI Friday’s struck our photographer, prompting a television crew to pay us a visit.
It would take an entire newspaper to mention all the stories weisenheimers have swiped, mangled, and plagiarized off our pages in the past 70 years, but we’ll give them a break because we can’t blame them for looking to us for Brooklyn news.
Our past is inducted into the local hall of fame and our future looks rosy under new owners Jennifer and Les Goodstein, who returned us to our cherished mom-and-pop roots with an expanded, colorized, print and web presence that is attracting new readers and advertisers to our fertile territories. You may be familiar with our popular, customized issues — including our pink edition for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, our family publications, our Women of Distinction magazines, and our Wedding and Prom guides — that continue to strengthen our borough’s commerce, advance its appeal, and make your readership and patronage matter.
All our successes are due to the newspaper you are holding, and our diligent team of editorial, production, classified, sales, administrative, mailroom, and executive staff. Many of our employees have been with us for decades, and all of them are committed to making our products the best they can be.
The Bay News made its debut 70 years ago — along with the microwave oven and cruise control — and dollars to doughnuts we’ll be around for at least another 70 more, keeping you informed of your news in your neighborhood.
