Tribeca Citizen To Fold After Nearly A Decade Covering Nabe

TRIBECA, NY — Hyper-local blog the Tribeca Citizen will fold at the end of the month, the owner recently announced.

One-man band Erik Torkells is ceasing publication of the Tribeca-centric blog on Dec. 31 after nearly a decade of covering neighborhood happenings, he recently told readers. The closure is chiefly because Torkells is moving to Santa Barbara, California, but he also told readers that he is ready to move on from covering the southern patch of Manhattan.

"The main reason is that I’m moving to California. But I’m also ready to take on a new challenge," Torkells wrote in a Dec. 5 blog post. "I’m not sure what that means yet; let me know if you have any ideas."

Torkells had hoped to expand the operation, but for "various reasons—some personal, some endemic to hyperlocal journalism" he never got around to it, he wrote.

In a post two days later, Torkells went into more depth about the site folding and his plans, noting he had hoped to branch the blog out to other near-by neighborhoods such as the Financial District and Chelsea with new staffers.

That vision never materialized and after nine and a half years of covering neighborhood news independently, Torkells is ready for the next chapter of his life, he wrote.

"I’ve loved working on Tribeca Citizen, but I’m also tired of the website itself, tired of writing about the same things over and over, tired of monitoring a slow decline in interestingness in the neighborhood," he wrote.

"I crave novelty more than most people, and it’s in short supply when you spend all day focusing on a small geographical area. I must know every crack in the sidewalk by now."

The website is for sale and another local could potentially pick up where Torkells leaves off. There is no set price for the Tribeca Citizen, but there "has been a lot of interest in taking over the site," according to Torkells.

Those interested in purchasing the website can reach out to Torkells at tribecacitizen@gmail.com.

Locals enjoy the Family Festival Street Fair and Tribeca/ESPN Sports Day during the Tribeca Film Festival. (Photo courtesy of Rob Kim/Getty Images)