NewsBeat

February 2016 NewsBeat 21 Metroland's last issue is a guerrilla finale M By PAUL GRONDAHL Steve Leon, front center, poses with some members of the Metroland staff as they hold copies of past issues as part of a celebration for the weekly's 30th anniversary in 2009. Times Union archive Production workers review layouts on a computer in the Metroland offices in Albany in 2009. "It was one of the best experiences I ever had as a journalist," said Darryl McGrath, a Columbia University Journalism School graduate who taught journalism at the University at Albany. She also worked at the Times Union and published articles in the New York Times and Boston Globe. She credited editor and publisher Stephen Leon and her late husband, Jim McGrath, a formerTimes Union editorial pagewriter, with taking herwriting to a higher level, including a flinty profile on Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings and an investigation into controversial searches and seizures by Border Patrol agents seeking undocumented farm workers on Amtrak trains. "People loved Metroland and feared it and I'm sorry it's gone," saidMcGrath, whose book about bird enthusiasts, "Flight Paths," will be published next month by SUNY Press. "It was a wonderful privilege to dive deep on stories and bring attention to issues nobody else was writing about," said Miriam Axel-Lute, former news editor and columnist who now edits Shelterforce magazine. "The newsroom was a buzzy mix of earnestness and wackiness." Metroland began as an advertising platformfor Cahoots, Sneaky Pete's and other disco-era nightclubs when 23-year-old Peter Iselin started it in 1978 with a popular feature called "Fox of theMonth." He sold it for about $200,000 in 1995 to Leon and family members who were investors. etrolands staffers put out a guerrilla final issue online on New Year's Eve, "TheLast Stand went out on their own terms a clenched fist of protest a lump in the throat over fun times gone by and a middle finger raised at The Establishment. Nobody got paid. Staff reminiscences were infused with an incomparable sense of freedom nurtured at the alt- weekly. F-bombs were not censored from stories. A brawl broke out over the proper spelling of doughnuts. The newsroom crew was described as "that pack of cranky, loud-mouthed opinionated misfits" by former news editor Chet Hardin. The cathartic final edition — published atwww.metroland.net —was an attempt to wash away the sour taste left in their mouths after Metroland ceased print publication on Nov. 5 after 38 years due to deep financial troubles, nonpayment of taxes and seizure of its Washington Avenue offices by state tax officials. Even when paychecks bounced, a resident rodent ("MetroMouse") forced the skittish to keep feet curled up on chairs as they wrote and frequent moves to cheaper office space turned them into refugees, the ever- shrinking staff kept putting out the 40,000-circulation free newspaper every Thursday. Like their lives depended on it. "As a student ofmedia, it was the craziest thing I'd ever seen," said Erin Pihlaja, news editor from 2012 to 2014, an era when Metroland was a ship listing heavily. "There was something truly possessive and they kept writing and writing for it even when they weren't getting paid," said Pihlaja, now executive director of the TroyBusiness Improvement District. "They felt an obligation and didn't want it to die." The online send-off was cooked up by arts editor Shawn Stone and longtime restaurant critic Byron Nilsson. "It was kind of awistful, lovely goodbye," said Nilsson, who lives on a farm outside Montgomery County where he is a beekeeper, playwright and aspiring novelist. The fact that he was still owed money seemed beside the point. "Steve did a great job with it journalistically and it got better after I sold it," said Iselin, who works in music licensing and lives locally after 13 years in Los Angeles. He recalled Jimmy Fallon, host of "The Tonight Show,"working as a receptionist and playing on the softball team and talented alumni like photographer Scott Gries and writer Mike Goudreau, who both moved to New York City to photograph celebrities and write for VH1, respectively. "I think itwas remarkable that Steve kept the place going as long as he did. Itwas his baby," said Paul Rapp, an attorney and member of the pop band Blotto who wrote for Metroland since 1991. Leon, 57, who joined Metroland in 1986, did not return calls and emails seeking comment. He told the Times Union in November that Metroland had been in decline since the 2008 recession and called its demise "a long time coming." Afamiliar cascade of events — notably a catastrophic loss of classified ads to the free online craigslist — also caused the Boston Phoenix, San Francisco Bay Guardian and other alt-weeklies to shut down. "We had a great run, we held our heads up high and we have no regrets," said Ted Etoll, senior account executive who joined Metroland in 1989. He ended up losing money through unpaid loans, but credited Metroland with helping him build a career as a music promoter who owns StepUp Presents and runs Upstate Concert Hall in Clifton Park. "We did it because we loved it," he said. — Reprinted from the Times Union MEMBER NEWS

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