johnbyronkuhner.com

I’ve long been an admirer of the linguistic wit of tabloid headline writers, the alliteration, the monikers, the brevity, the improbable juxtapositions.  So I was happy to get a chance to try my hand while at Gothamist.  And it seems I’ve done it: I made what will be a lasting (i.e., a few months) contribution to the tabloid vernacular.  Typically, it was on a story the editor asked me to do and which I attempted to decline: a story about a Russian billionaire’s interest in the Atlantic Yards development.  I didn’t know much about it and said I had no angle.  The editor said, “You’ll find something.”  The only bit of wit I could attach to it by the end was calling the team the “New Jersey Nyets,” which I used as a kicker although we discussed moving it to the headline.  Another Gothamist writer, John Del Signore (a master of the trade), liked it and used it in his pieces too.  A few days later the deal was officially announced, and the term became standard tabloid nomenclature.  Now I’m not going to say those pros at the Post needed my help for something so elementary as this.  But I feel I measured up.