The New York City residential development of Stuyvesant Town came to fruition in 1947. Like many New York City areas, Stuyvesant Town and its sister development Peter Cooper Village are full of rich history and passionate residents. But they do have one element most other areas don’t: their own newspaper.
A timeline of the history of Stuyvesant Town
When Stuyvesant Town opened its doors, one man decided that this unique New York City neighborhood would benefit from their own newspaper. That man was Charles C. Hagedorn. Hagedorn was a Public Information Office in the army during WWII. While stationed, he produced newspapers for large military forts.
“Charles Hagedorn, the original publisher realized that with all these people moving into a concentrated area it would need a newspaper,” said executive editor Sabina Mollot who’s been at the paper for over 13 years. “So he created one.”
A map of the areas that are covered by Town & Village
Town & Village was Hagedorn's first paper. Throughout his career he went on to publish several more New York newspapers including The Gramercy Union, Real Estate Weekly, and Bronx News.
Today Town & Village has remained largely the same since its founding, part of what makes it increasingly unique in the world of print journalism. The paper is still put out weekly, and is still published by Hagedorn Publishing. The in-office staff remains small, and is made up of three people. These include associate editor Maria Rocha-Buschel, advertising representative Sal Governale, and Mollot. The publication also has outside writers who contribute weekly columns and other work to the paper, and while they do publish online, print is still their primary product.
“The online traffic is nothing compared to the print,” said Mollot. “There doesn’t seem to be diminished interest in the paper just because it’s online.”
Unlike many newspapers and print publications around The United States, Town & Village, isn’t struggling to keep their doors open. “We’re getting along fine, very well,” said Hagedorn. Circulation remains steady at 8,000 copies, with no company layoffs since the recession, and dedicated readers who write in weekly.
Sabina Mollot discusses how Town & Village impacts the community
“As for why it’s still here today, it actually speaks to the strength of the community,” said Mollot. “Even with [rent] prices going as high as they’ve gone, there is still more of a sense of community in this neighborhood than many other neighborhoods.”
That sense of community is easily seen within the readership of the paper. The primary readers are members of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, but there is also a large readership in the Gramercy Park neighborhood.
Joy Garland has been living in Stuyvesant Town for over forty-years. As soon as she found out about the newspaper she became a subscriber. “I wanted to know more about the area I lived in, she said. “I wanted to know as much as I could about what was available.”
To this day she still subscribes and sometimes contributes articles to the paper. The paper allows her stay up to date with what is happening on the community board, local political news, and events within the complex.
Ultimately, what makes the paper most unique is its way of sticking to its niche. As more publications try and incorporate flashier elements like video, virtual reality and unique user experiences, Town & Village continues to focus on what it does best: print.
Drag above to compare a copy of T&V from 1963 and 2017
“I think one of the reasons we’ve survived is we’ve stuck to what we are, an old-fashioned community weekly,” said Mollot. “We’re not also just doing videos every day because we want to do something cool and new, we just try and stick with what we are.”
While there continue to be a number of changes within Stuyvesant Town, and New York City at large, one thing local residents can continue to count on is their copy of Town & Village appearing in their mailbox on Thursdays.
Click on the images below to see some of the recent stories featured on Town & Village
Stuy Town woman performing in benefit show
Hotel 17 has closed down
Exhibit taking residents back in time