Gothamist News Sites Revived By Public Radio

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Dave Lucas

Published February 23, 2018 at 3:52 PM EST

A group of news websites abruptly shut down late last year after reporters in New York unionized have new life thanks to public radio.

Gothamist and its satellite sites LAist and DCist have been acquired by WNYC in New York, KPCC in Southern California and WAMU in Washington, D.C.

Gothamist covered New York City for about 10 years before it was shut down along with DNAinfo after reporters there voted to unionize.

Billionaire former owner Joe Ricketts said at the time he was shutting it down for business reasons. WNYC said in a statement that anonymous donors funded most of the sale.

New York Public Radio CEO Laura Walker issued a statement saying the station is committed to strong reporting amid the decline in local journalism.

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Dave Lucas

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.

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