New York City has over 8 million people – but its hometown newspaper only has a unionized editorial staff of 50.

Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund known as the “destroyer of newspapers”, has hacked staff levels to the bone. Since the spring of 2022, 37 staff members have left or been fired, and only 15 replaced, but the budget continues to shrink. We can only surmise the money is lining executives’ and shareholders’ pockets, in addition to the $90-100m Alden received for selling our printing plant.

The few staff members left behind are tasked with documenting a mountain of news. Despite their best efforts, they can no longer thoroughly report on all the issues they long apprised New Yorkers of – with no reporters left to cover the governor’s office and state lawmakers in Albany, the New York City Housing Authority, the migrant crisis, the NHL’s Rangers, Islanders and Devils, college sports and the bustling courthouses in Queens and the Bronx, to list a few examples.

With the Daily News now in its 106th year and the country headed toward a high-stakes, historic presidential election, as well as the indictment of Mayor Adams and several federal corruption investigations into members of his administration, the paper’s mission to conscientiously chronicle life in and for New York has never been more critical. To preserve the future viability of this historic paper, its unionized staff of journalists must have a fair contract that not only honors their work but pays them a living wage.

Enough is enough. New York needs the Daily News. Join us in telling Daily News Executive Editor Andrew Julien that it’s time to stop the drain on resources and give the Daily News Union a fair contract.