Shu-biquitous

Jamie Shupak is becoming quite the media maven these days. Between the New York Observer Media Power Bachelorette list, a Daily News print profile, the dating column she writes for Complex Magazine and her near-constant Twitter feed, she is rapidly building a brand as a high-profile single gal about town. (There is also this, which she presumably did not cooperate with.)

Now the New York Times has joined the party (six months late as usual) with a good profile of Shupak. I didn't feel like there was much about her persona that I didn't already know, but the Times makes up for being late by digging a little deeper. There are some fun nuggets (she wanted to be a hard news reporter but her dreams were dashed when she realized she couldn't stop smiling on camera; her multi-year relationship ended badly, though how is a bit he said/she said, or so the Times reports).

Anyway, I suspect she won't be able to play the single gal angle for too long, so it'll be interesting to see how she plays it and how the fans react once she's in a serious relationship again.

Opinions are like...

Lately, I have noticed Pat editorializing a couple of times outside of "In the Papers," to rather amusing effect. This morning, when reporting on McDonald's decision to include apples in its Happy Meals, he noted that the company is "dropping that ridiculous caramel dipping sauce" that added additional fat and calories. Ha. Yesterday, when reporting on the NY Daily News' findings that fare jumpers can actually pay less than paying riders (since the fines are so low and not all that frequently enforced), he added that viewers should not be encouraged to take this approach "since we live in a civilized society." Amen to anyone who encourages civility in this crazy city!

Of course, these opinions are not remotely tied to anything controversial, like politics, city budget proposals or any other hard news stories, which

Interestingly, I have noticed that some of the reporters I follow on Twitter have openly expressed support for gay marriage. That's a little more of a gray area. I personally don't consider it controversial--it's a civil rights issue in my book, and the station has reported on the (ridiculous) opposition to the bill from anti same-sex marriage groups, making sure to get both sides of the story. But it was a little surprising to see, nonetheless.

Speaking of same-sex marriage, I was sadly out of town this Sunday and missed Roger Clark sitting behind the anchor desk (this was the first day same-sex marriages could take place in New York). Hopefully I won't miss it next time!

Come on, NY Post!

Kudos to Pat for his takedown of the New York Post's pathetic coverage of the Rupert & James Murdoch testimony/News Corp. scandal in today's paper. As Pat noted, it was the biggest news story on two continents yesterday, and even the Wall Street Journal (another Murdoch-owned paper) put it on the front page!

Here's the video clip of Pat opening a can of whup-ass on the Post, if you missed it this morning:

http://www.ny1.com/content/features/in_the_papers/143276/in-the-papers-7-20-11

How Bloomie annoyed me today

I just got back from a week in sunny—make that oven-like—Florida. I did miss NY1.

My vacation coincided with one of the biggest New York stories of the year, the horrific child murder in Brooklyn. NY1 reported this morning that Mayor Bloomberg sat shiva with the boy’s grieving family. It was a nice gesture, but something he said to the media about it really irritated me.

I can’t remember the full quote, but it was something along the lines of, sometimes God does things that are not so great, blah blah blah, and then he punctuated it with “It is what it is.”

I would like to call a global moratorium on that hackneyed, meaningless, UTTERLY idiotic phrase. I know it’s not how he meant to sound, but it just struck me as an extremely thoughtless and trivial thing to say about a child’s murder. Also, I just hate that turn of phrase.

I also enjoyed In the Papers this morning. Kudos to Pat for ribbing the Journal about its under-coverage of the News Corp. scandal. I also enjoyed ITP yesterday, when he pointed out that a new film that’s being adapted from a crime novel featuring a 6’5” hero will star—Tom Cruise, at 5 ‘7”. Hilar.

Hope y’all are having a good summer. Stay cool (and classy) New York!

One last Weiner joke

I am 14 years old, because I just overheard Errol Louis say on Inside City Hall, "Let's talk about Weiner's withdrawal" and I laughed out loud. That is all.

Trivia Fun at the Bell House

So last night I attended the VH1 Trivia Night with Pat at the Bell House, hosted by none other than Pat Kiernan. It was a blast. The Bell House is a great place to have a party (which is why I got married there last summer!), and the event raised money for VH1’s Save the Music Foundation, a cause I also have a personal attachment to as a musician myself (I, like NY1’s own Roger Clark, play the drums). To that end, the evening kicked off with an excellent performance by a group of cute and talented kids.

And the event also confirmed something I already knew: Pat has a deeply rabid fan base! Lots of people lined up to get their pictures taken with the congenial Canadian—myself included. I did not introduce myself as New York Two, because it was already getting pretty late at that point and I’m pretty sure he wanted to get out of there so he could get some sleep before doing the news that morning.

While my team, the High Falutin’ Hussies, did not win (other names we considered: Phat Kiernan and New York Won), we still had fun. However, I learned a couple of disturbing facts: First, the team that did end up winning actually won the World Series of Pop Culture TV show in 2007. Pat graciously included the runner-up team in the grand prize because of this; he’s taking everyone out for beers and poutine. I’m so jealous!

The other disturbing thing I learned? Pat has Daughtry in his iPod. Why, Pat, why?

Anyway, if they do it again, you should go. It was a blast and in support of a great cause.

Pat + Trivia =fun

So tonight I'll be attending this event. Maybe I'll even meet Pat! I doubt it, though. While I am obviously a big fan, I'll probably be too shy to approach him. A few years ago, he stood just a few feet away from me at the annual Financial Follies event, and I didn't approach him then, either. But in any case, I'm looking forward to a fun event that will be raising money for a worthy cause (VH1's Save the Music foundation).

I have been too busy to post this week, but I have been enjoying In the Papers this week. I got a big kick out of two things yesterday, neither of which were Weiner-related. One was Pat's amusement at one Tony award-winning actress's acceptance speech; I'm paraphrasing his paraphrasing, but it had something to do with how nobody told bees they couldn't fly...it sounded like incoherent gobbledeygook, which Pat captured well. The other was how he picked on the Times for running such a tiny photo of Gabrielle Giffords. He notes that the Post ran with a nice, large front-page photo, whereas the Times ran a teeny thumbnail. I guess you had to have seen it to understand why it was funny, but the mockery was pretty entertaining.

I realize my last several posts have been about In the Papers. That's because I've rarely been home long enough in the last few weeks to watch NY1 in the evenings. I hope this changes soon!

The gift that keeps on giving

Obviously I was away most of last week, otherwise I would have been ALL OVER the Anthony Weiner story.

Seriously? Seriously?! What person RUNS FOR OFFICE and then WINS and then lets someone take a PHOTO of them that emphasizes their JUNK when their name is WEINER?

I think we all know the answer. Also, this is the best story ever. What a welcome home gift to get upon my return from vacation.

And my love for Pat Kiernan has, ahem, swelled to new highs given his coverage of this saga on "In the Papers." Last week he noted that one local paper had "grabbed hold of this story and will not let go"; this morning he told viewers to take note of the preponderance of Weiner jokes.

Elsewhere in this morning's ITP, he laid on the sarcasm, pointing out a story on how the “normally shy Donald trump to give us a glimpse of how rich and successful he is." (I forget the point of the story; I think he's offering tours of his private jet or something.)

Anyway, I am happy to be home. I missed you, Pat and NY1!

Bloomberg gets pissy with journos again

Oh, Bloomberg.

So I follow many NY1 reporters on Twitter, including the excellent Josh Robin. He tweeted this today:

"Glad DN picked up @mikebloomberg slapdown of my question on s'way cellfones yesterday. Hizzoner disputed presence of panhandlers."

I'm guessing this means he was the reporter referred to in this New York Daily News story about how Bloomie responded to a question about panhandling on subways. He rather unbelievably claimed that there are not many panhandlers on subways anymore. Even worse, Azi Paybarah, who covers politics for the New York Observer, tweeted the following: "Bloomie told a journo "Asked about panhandling comment, @mikebloomberg tells journo "I've been riding sunways longer than you've been [alive]."

Now, this is not a comment on Bloomberg's mayorial skills (I made that word up). It's about how he appears to treat reporters, which is in an extremely condescending fashion, as far as I can tell. He's done this sort of thing before. This from a guy who founded a media company. Come on, Bloomie!

I'm back!

Apologies, dear reader, for being off the grid. I was in Paris for work last week, followed by a weekend in London for fun. And while I had a blast, let me tell you, I REALLY missed not being able to watch NY1’s coverage of the Bin Laden takedown. I had to make do with the BBC, which was actually quite balanced and did not make me want to yell at the TV for its portrayal of Americans (as I frequently did when I lived in the UK).

ANYHOO. I’m back, and delighted as ever to have NY1 back in my life. The highlight this morning was Pat’s imitation of Mariah Carey’s unfortunately named child, Moroccan (that’s right, Moroccan. Not even Morocco, for god’s sake!) during “In the Papers”. He was reading the speech bubble of a cartoon that suggested the child wanted to stay in utero rather than deal with that ridiculous appellation.

Mariah is far from alone in her desire to give her kid a moronic moniker. The list of celebrity baby names is littered with such gems as “Moxie Crimefighter,” “Audio Science,” “Bronx Mowgli” and “Jor El.”

Which makes me think. My flight back from Paris happened to connect in Reyjavik, where I picked up an English language Icelandic newspaper. That’s where I learned that parents in Iceland have to submit their proposed baby names to some kind of government board for approval (that’s a bit of a simplification of the process, but that’s the gist of it). Yes, that sounds a bit Draconian and nanny state-ish, but judging by the names above, it just may not be the worst idea in the world.

Also this morning: Did anyone else CRINGE at Dean Meminger’s recitation of the testimony of the cop on trial from allegedly raping a woman? He was just reading it verbatim, but when he said the words “buttock area” and “freaky”, I just about died.

That is all for now. Go out and enjoy the spring! And don’t name your baby Moroccan!

Red Rover officially safe for school children again

I was so caught up in the stabbing/murder news yesterday that I totally forgot to even mention the story Pat mentioned on NY1, reported in the Daily News, about how New York state, in an effort to increase summer camp regulation, had passed a law that would shut down any recreation program that tried to "implement two or more games without state certification," for fear the games are too risky, according to Pat's Papers. The games in question? Such dangerous activities as Freeze Tag and Red Rover.

Well, Pat noted this morning that the story has ostensibly been retracted-I can't remember exactly what was said, but apparently the outcry caused the officials to promise they would review the list of so-called dangerous games that the state had compiled.

This is good news, because kids today are already a little too coddled. As my husband observed--after seeing the 100th or so child in our neighborhood on one of those pedal-free Skuut bikes, and noting that the child was wearing a helmet despite the LACK OF PEDALS--"we are not exactly raising the next generation of Marines, are we?"

Now, some safety improvements of the last few years have been great. I'm all for car seats, pregnancy-related health warnings about smoking, etc. But the pendulum can, and sometimes does, swing too far. For example, when's the last time you saw a see-saw on a playground?

That said, lots of Brooklyn parents seem to be very fond of dragging their children to bars, so maybe it all evens out...

Anyway, I don't have kids yet, so I clearly don't know what I'm talking about. Parents, I said it so you don't have to!

Stabby Brooklyn

Happy Tuesday, everybody.

Now, a burning question: Why is Brooklyn so stabby all of a sudden? And what is up with Russian psychos brutally murdering their girlfriends?

This morning, NY1 reported on the second murder of a woman (and her mother) by a Russian boyfriend this year. This time the stabbing took place in Gravesend—I admit I have no idea where that is, but the people in the neighborhood seemed pretty shocked by the whole thing. This of course followed the insane crime spree about a couple of months ago, when that dude killed his girlfriend, her mom, and a couple of others who had nothing to do with the situation (I can’t remember the final body count, but it was crazy). In any case, I realize two reports do not a trend make, but I do sort of get the feeling just by watching NY1 that violence against women is on the rise. I hope this is statistically not the case, but these stories are incredibly disturbing.

And there’s also the Lucali insanity. I live in the vicinity of Carroll Gardens and have yet to try this place, despite its fabled reputation for amazing pizza. My husband, who is a former crime reporter, has always talked about how this place has reported mob ties (as has been reported in the Post and elsewhere). Now the Post is saying it was about a woman. Who the hell knows? The more important question is, when will it reopen? I gotta try this pizza! Hopefully I won’t get knifed in the process. Please, people of Brooklyn, stop stabbing each other already!

Back in the saddle

Pat has been back in the anchor chair for a couple of days now, but I've been unable to watch because of a mysterious, two-day cable outage that seems to have rectified itself. Yay!

I was really happy to finally get to watch "In the Papers" with Pat doing the delivery. No offense to K-Shaughn, who did a fine job of anchoring in Pat's absence, but it's hard to mimic Pat's special blend of seriousness and sarcasm when he does ITP. To wit: his announcement of an item in today's Post, which noted that Kim Kardashian is moving to NYC. Pat wryly noted that, with her seal of approval, we can all feel a little better about our own decisions to live here.

Another interesting ITP item--Mexicans work longer hours than Americans. This is probably a surprise to no one, except of course for those idiots at Top Gear (a show I used to like before this flap).

On another note, I have to say that Jamie Shupak looked adorable this morning. I want that frock! Also, they should probably make her the station's wardrobe stylist and throw some extra money her way.

Whoa!

How funny--I wrote my previous post before I saw this...my half-assed prediction came true, if NY1's sources are correct!

http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/136989/sources--schools-chancellor-cathie-black-to-be-replaced

FOLLOW UP: I just realized I'd cut the sentence from my previous post where I was like, "You have to wonder how much longer Cathie Black is going to stick around." So if you're wondering what the hell I was talking about re: making a prediction...I predicted it. Just in my head. Does that count? Probably not, since all of NYC probably saw this coming anyway.

Randi Weingarten apols to Lindsey Crist

So K-Shaughn has been filling in for Pat for what seems like a couple of weeks now; she’s working hard and doing a good job. She’s also toned down the eye makeup significantly; it’s a big improvement over the a.m. smoky eye, I have to say.

She reported an interesting story this morning—apparently Randi Weingarten (I’m sure I mangled that spelling), the president of the American Federation of Teachers, lifted a paragraph straight out of one of Lindsey Crist’s reports during her speech! She didn’t credit NY1 or Crist, either. For shame, Randi! Weingarten did apologize and said something about academic dishonesty, blah blah blah. Children, let this be a lesson: plagiarizing is effed up. And really embarrassing when you get caught.

Speaking of education, another interesting story this week was the NY1/Marist poll about Cathie Black’s approval rating. Seems it’s about 17%. That is pretty harsh, though I’m surprised it’s not even lower given the vitriol of her haters.

In other news—it has been a really busy couple of weeks at NY2 HQ, including a couple of morning broadcast TV appearances last week by yours truly (regarding a story published in the biz-to-biz mag where I work). I did a stint on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” and let me tell you, I’ve got a HUGE appreciation now for the NY1 morning crew. My car came to pick me up at five, by which time the TV people have probably already been awake for a couple of hours. I don’t know how you folks do it…

And that was followed by another really long work week. But tomorrow is FRIDAY! Thanks/curses to Rebecca Walker, I no longer think of Jamie Shupak when I think of how excited I am about Friday. Believe me, I wish that were not the case.

Ciao for now.

What not to eat on the subway

This morning’s In the Papers made me laugh when Pat pointed out a follow-up story (sorry, I forget which paper) relating to that Spaghetti Incident story. (You’ve probably seen the dumb video by now, but if you haven’t, a woman was eating spaghetti out of a Styrofoam container on the subway recently; a fellow passenger called her an “animal” for eating on the train, and the pasta-slurping passenger got up in her grill, leading to a fisticuffs. An aside: bonus points to Pat for the Guns n’ Roses reference, whether intentional or not.)

Anyway, the follow-up story concerned a woman who was caught eating CURRIED SHARK on the subway. Many things went through my mind after reading this: Where did she get that? Ew! Or maybe, yum! And then I thought of the people who do something even more offensive.

While it may sound gross to sit next to a lady eating a plate of steaming hot fish on the subway, at least the people sharing the train with her could move away, and they probably didn’t have to ride the train for that long. But it’s a different story when you’re stuck in an office and some grade-A moron uses the office microwave to reheat fish. People, this is is so very wrong on so many levels.

Anyway, it sounded like the story was insinuating that the MTA is considering some sort of rule banning eating on the train. I will be annoyed if even one dollar of taxpayer money is spent contemplating or enforcing this rule. I take the subway twice a day every day, and it just doesn’t happen that often. Or if it does, I don’t even notice it, which makes it a non-issue.

Anyway, I’m outta here for a few days, headed to Arizona for a wedding. Happy rest of the week everybody!

Haircut 100

This morning on NY1 Pat Kiernan noted that there has been a bizarre pattern of crimes taking place in barber shops and hair salons this week. I actually hadn't realized that two of the incidents were separate because I was getting them mixed up in my head. Anyway, there was the Bensonhurst barbershop shooting earlier this week, followed by the Stamford, CT incident in which a guy got arrested mid-haircut (leading the Post to hilariously describe his half-done do as a "half-fro"). Then there was the horrifying story of the man who murdered his hairstylist wife in broad daylight while she was working in a Manhattan salon.

I'm actually scheduled to get my hair cut in about two hours. Should I be worried?!

The cause of the world's problems is...Spiderman?

Once again I have totally failed to blog/tweet NY1 happenings in any kind of regular way. I had a horrendous work deadline, then promptly came down with strep throat when it was over. I’ve spent this past week catching up from that.

In any case, the news cycle rolls on. Congrats to NY1 for getting a hot scoop this week: They broke the story about Julie Taymor leaving the hugely troubled Spiderman production. I had to laugh at one of the dumb person on the street interviews accompanying Vivian Lee's story. One woman declared that the amount of money that has been spent on the critically panned show is disgraceful and could have been better spent on feeding the homeless and taking care of NYC, etc. I guess she didn’t realize Spiderman is a private, commercial enterprise and not a government-funded art project. I mean, that song-and-dance number about Arachne shopping for shoes sounded truly atrocious, but I’m not blaming the producers for the world’s social ills. They’ve messed up enough things on their own; no need to assign more blame.

What else has happened-oh yes, Chezza wrote a book! Seems Chezza-my inexplicable nickname for NY1 anchor Cheryl Wills-did some digging on her ancestry to find out more about her father, who passed away many years ago; turns out she’s the descendant of Civil War veteran Sandy Wills. The resulting book, “Die Free,” was just published. Congrats to Cheryl for this achievement.

And finally—this is old news by now, but I learned something fascinating during my hours of watching Ny1 the week that I was being a shut-in with strep throat. Pat Kiernan doesn’t drink coffee! Tea either, for that matter. How on earth does he handle the morning shift? I for one would be a basket case. I just developed a WHOLE NEW respect for PK. That is pretty intense.

OK-over and out for now.

Jesus, what a weekend.

It may be a good thing I'm nursing another cold, because between the stabbing spree in Brooklyn and the ensuing subway chaos, it has been a pretty excellent weekend to stay in.

One person who did NOT decide to stay in (yuk yuk yuk) is little Jack MacKenzie Clark, whose proud papa is none other than NY1's Roger Clark. Congrats to Roger and mom!

With that, I'm off to gobble some more Sudafed and return to my inviting couch.

Craig's Lust

Oh, Craig's List. My favorite story of yesterday/today--which Pat noted on "In the Papers" has actually played itself out quite quickly--is the one about upstate Congressman Christopher Lee, who sent a shirtless photo of himself to some gal he met on Craig's List (Lee is very married). Tthe photo makes me think of that disgusting commercial that frequently runs on NY1 (the ad is some supplement for older dudes) showing disturbingly buff 50- and 60-somethings bragging about their ripped bods and hanging out with way younger chicks. It makes me gag pretty much every time.

Also on in the papers-Chritsine Quinn has never been inside a Wal Mart. That actually takes some doing. I wish I could say the same! Maybe she just really, really never leaves NYC.

Elsewhere on NY1 this morning: I am not normally the biggest fan of Neil Rosen--I think he's frequently too soft on mediocre movies--but I enjoyed his scathing review of "Just Go with It," Jennifer Aniston's latest atrocity. He variously described it as "awful," "pathetic," "embarrassing" and "excruciating", practically yelled at Jennifer Aniston to stop doing these movies and concluded that he couldn't wait for it to end. But how do you really feel, Neil?

And finally--yesterday I got a very nice tweet from none other than Jamie Shupak saying she liked the idea of a NY1 and thanking me for the mentions--"the nice ones, anyway." I went back and read what I'd written and realized it was rather mixed and not altogether flattering. Needless to say, I'm slightly embarrassed! I often write without thinking that anyone is ever going to read this, let alone the people I'm writing about, though I do try to keep the tone of this thing light and make it clear that I am generally writing from the perspective of a fan. I don't want to be a serially vicious anonymous blogger. So if I've hurt anyone's feelings, I apologize. That said, I will still poke fun on occasion. Who can resist roasting the likes of Dan Eaton and George Whipple?*

*I'm sure both are very nice people.

Who is Pat's office spouse?

This morning’s “In the Papers” was particularly entertaining; there were several segments I wanted to highlight, but I was putting on my face and not in front of the computer so I’ll just pick a couple from memory.

Pat highlighted an article (I forget which paper) about what to get this Valentine’s Day for your “office spouse.” The article noted that the office spouse is not someone you’re having an affair with but rather someone who acts as a confidant, etc (but again, no sex).

I do not have one—one spouse is enough, thank you—but it got me wondering whom Pat’s might be. An easy guess would be Jamie Shupak, given their flirty a.m. banter, but I suspect there’s more of a mentor/mentee relationship there. Another good guess would be one of the finance hotties, Annika Pergament or Diane King, since they both cover finance and Pat has a certain affinity for that beat given his days as a CNNfn reporter.

But when you really think about it—my money’s on Roger Clark.

Another article Pat highlighted, in the Village Voice, chronicled the common problem of single women in New York and the oft-heard lament that there are not enough marriageable men in New York. The author controversially concludes that the women are the problem, not the men.

I haven’t read the article but, as a gal who didn’t get married until age 35, I certainly sympathize with these women and would probably reject that conclusion. But who knows—it was only after I left London to go back to New York that I found love. (I thought for sure my sarcastic sense of humor would go over like gangbusters with the English gents, but it turns out they don’t like redheads. Information that would have been useful to know BEFORE I moved over there!)

With that-happy Wednesday.

More jobs at NY1

To apply for the job openings below, go to www.timewarnercable.com/careers and fill in the requisition number.


1. NY1 News – Video Journalist - Politics, Requisition # 124961BR

2. NY1 News – Transit Reporter, Requisition # 125594BR

3. NY1 News – Associate Producer - Creative Services , Requisition # 125452BR
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. YNN Albany – Producer, Requisition # 125266BR

2. YNN Albany – Producer, Requisition # 125524BR

3. YNN Buffalo – News Assistant, Requisition # 125050BR

4. YNN Buffalo – Video Journalist / Reporter, Requisition # 125504BR

NY1, YNN now hiring

Looks like NY1 is adding some new positions; its sister station in Albany, YNN, is also going on something of a hiring binge. Go to www.timewarnercable.com/careers to apply:

NY1 News – News Assistant (Bergen) , Requisition # 124068BR

NY1 News – NY1 Noticias Traffic Reporter , Requisition # 123583BR

NY1 News – Writer , Requisition # 124787BR

YNN Rochester – Senior Assignment Editor, Requisition # 124813BR

YNN Rochester – Producer, Requisition # 124806BR

YNN Albany – Anchor, Requisition # 124832BR

YNN Buffalo – Senior Producer, Requisition # 123717BR

YNN Buffalo – Video Journalist / Reporter, Requisition # 123721BR

YNN Albany – Anchor / Video Journalist, Requisition # 124468BR

Hudson Valley (Middletown) – News Assistant, Requisition # 123723BR

YNN Buffalo – Video Journalist / Reporter, Requisition # 124659BR

YNN Syracuse – Photographer / Truck Operator, Requisition # 124663BR

YNN Buffalo – News Assistant, Requisition # 124693BR

YNN Albany – Capital Tonight Reporter, Requisition # 124681BR

YNN Buffalo – Producer, Requisition # 124810BR

Happy New Year!

NY1 yearend wrapup

As the Simpsons’ Dr. Nick says, hello everybody! I’m back from my holiday breather. I was out of town for the entire shitstorm-I mean snowstorm-so missed all the coverage. But I can’t say I’m sorry I missed the actual storm.

Anyway, let me start my first post of the new year by begging you to go over and read Patspapers.com, in the unlikely event that the three of you who read this don’t already. They are struggling and they need more traffic! Read more about Pat’s plea here:

http://www.patspapers.com/blog/item/call_to_action_tuesday_pats_papers_sos/

Now that that’s out of the way, I thought it might be fun to do a year-end wrapup—call it the Year in New York One. This will be half-assed, since I got a crazy new job early last year that does not leave me much time for TV watching anymore, but here’s what I’ve managed to catch.

The biggest change is that they seem to have gotten a raft of new reporters.

Here are my reviews of these folk:

Jamie Shupak—I honestly don’t know what to think about her. She looks like a precocious high school student who got a really, really good internship (though she’s had a couple of other TV traffic reporting jobs, so she’s not a newbie). And I am getting a little tired of her endless cheerleading for the weekend (“we made it to Fridayyyyyy!”). That said, I like her better than Debbie Duhane (“Alternate side parking rules, THEY are in effect…”) and the reports are generally better, in large part because they are making much better use of graphics. And I like her focus on mass transit; I’ve actually changed travel plans to work on occasion because of her reports. But she’s also a liiiiittle to flirty with Pat for my taste (though who can blame the gal?).

Inside City Hall—I haven’t seen the show in forever, but obviously, there were a lot of huge changes in the wake of the Dominic Carter saga. I have to hand it to Michael Scotto, who did a great job filling in during what was a crazy time to be replacing a long-time anchor.

Rocco Vertuccio—Is he new? I don’t know, but I don’t remember seeing him before this year. Anyway, I don’t really have an opinion on him, other than to suggest that his name could not be more Italian. Maybe he should be the Carroll Gardens reporter.

Lindsay Christ—She technically joined in 2009, but I just noticed her this year. Whoops. Anyway, it seems like she has the makings of a pretty good reporter, and she’s got great credentials (she used to teach before she became a reporter). But…is it just me or does her delivery seem a little, well, weird? At times she sounds like a lobotomy patient reading off a cue card. Maybe with a little practice she’ll relax and get a bit more natural. She could take a page out of Roger Clark’s playbook.

That chick from Chow.com—I like these stories but I find the gal who delivers them to be really annoying. I just wish she’d be a little more formal and not say stuff like “awesome”, etc. I mean, she’s not a full-time broadcast correspondent but the tone of her segments is so out of sync with the rest of the NY Living segments that it’s jarring. But maybe I’m just jealous because I want her job!

Speaking of education, the Cathie Black story seems to have been one of the bigger stories of the year, but my FAVORITE moment in all of NY1’s blizzard of coverage came from Roger’s report on her first day on the job, when she toured all the schools. At her first stop, in Brooklyn, they filmed a PAINFUL segment of her attempting to high-five a student, who totally left her hanging.

Aaaaaand that’s all the brilliant analysis and insight I can offer for now. More inanities to come. Happy Fridayyyyyyyyy!