It was sometime in the 1950s when a visionary newspaperman who was also a savvy businessman decided his offices and printing plant on Castleton Avenue in West Brighton weren’t big enough, or modern enough, to enter the Staten Island of the 1960s.
After all, there was talk of building a gigantic bridge – the longest span in the world! -- connecting New York State’s most southern island and New York City’s most spacious and bucolic borough, to the hustle and bustle of the rest of the Big Apple. That meant a lot of things. Among them: More homes, more people, more businesses – and more business for his newspaper.
That visionary was S.I. Newhouse, and the Staten Island Advance was his first newspaper. He purchased the paper – founded in 1886 -- in 1922.
S.I. (as in Samuel Irving) was publisher and his nephew, Richard E. Diamond, associate publisher. Dick was the day-to-day, on-the-scene guy.
They found a piece of property on Fingerboard Road in Grasmere for sale that was Harmony Park, a sort of picnic grounds. There really was nothing else around. Across the street were woods that are now the Stonegate development, and next door is a catering hall, the Island Chateau.
The property bordered the Staten Island Railway. Newsprint – the huge rolls of paper on which the Advance is printed -- was delivered by rail back then. The newsprint-laden trains could be diverted to a short spur connected to the property.
A very modern – by 1950/60′s standards -- three-story brick building went up, professionally landscaped with boxwood hedges and hundreds of spring tulips. It held a then-state-of-the-art printing press – one that printed color, almost unheard of in the industry back then.
The Verrazzano Bridge grew out of the Narrows, the community grew and the newspaper grew. So much so that in the 1980s, Publisher Diamond decided his newspaper on Fingerboard Road wasn’t big enough, or modern enough, to enter the Staten Island of the 1990s. If Dick entertained the notion of moving, he didn’t tell me.
Instead, he OK’d the addition of two floors atop the existing brick building – these all glass – and not long after, a new state-of-the art-computer-driven printing press that printed magnificent color.
By now, Caroline Harrison joined her dad at the Advance as general manager.
Life was good on Fingerboard Road. We had our choice of smart young college grads looking to begin their career at a local newspaper. Advertising was strong. Print readership was booming. Until a lot of that changed.
I’m not breaking news here as to the why’s. Something called the internet surfaced, and with it digital journalism. Mix in a U.S. financial meltdown in 2007-2008 and the newspaper industry was in upheaval.
SILive.com outpaced print in the number of readers, but with two unfortunate caveats: Readers read for free, and online advertising dollars did not reach the level of print advertising dollars. This was not unique to Staten Island, of course. The industry faces challenges all over the country and fact is, the Advance and SILive.com are doing better than many other publications because of the strong support in our community.
But still, it’s a challenge.
It’s now 2020 and Publisher Caroline Harrison (her dad died in 2004) has decided that her Fingerboard Road building is “tired” and in need of renovation. And it’s too big. During the early days on Fingerboard Road, well over 500 people worked in the building. Technology and consolidation with other Advance properties reduced that number dramatically.
To put it simply: We just don’t need the 108,000 square feet any longer.
The decision has been made for the Advance family to leave Fingerboard Road. The building and property will be put up for sale. The news reporters, photographers, editors and sales people will find a home on Staten Island in leased space. The press operation will be consolidated with other Advance newspapers in Montville, N.J.
Allow me to stress as strongly as possible: The Staten Island Advance and SILive.com ARE NOT leaving Staten Island. We’re just relocating to a new home in the borough. The Advance will just be printed at a New Jersey plant. Everything else will originate from Staten Island.
Much the same is happening at another Advance property in Grand Rapids, Mich. There, press operations will consolidate at an Advance printing facility in Cleveland.
“Our press and packaging crews have done heroic work printing the paper without interruption during the pandemic,” said Harrison, the publisher who is also CEO of Advance Local, which publishes newspapers and operates websites in markets across the country.
“I am extremely grateful to them,” she said. “There will be opportunity for a number to move with the printing operation to New Jersey, and I hope they will. The reality is print publications have gotten smaller around the country as operations straddle the print and digital worlds. Many print sites have been consolidated, and it makes sense for the Advance to move its printing to New Jersey. For the customer, there will be no change in quality, or the excellent service you get from your carrier.”
Nothing good has come out of the coronavirus crisis we are living through. Nothing. But we have learned a lot. One is the ability to work outside an office setting. It’s the way reporters should work.
Even though we will have a home base on Staten Island, our reporters, photographers, videographers, social media people and our sales team will be out among you seven days a week.
“Over the years, our processes have become far more automated than what the building was designed for,” said Harrison. “Today our reporters and sales people do their best work out of the office. Reporters and photographers submit their stories live from the scene. Sales people partner with their clients and develop sales plans on the spot. As tough as it will be to leave the nostalgia behind, we work differently today -- maybe better -- and the time has come to move to more suitable space on Staten Island,” she said.
A lot of thought – and emotion – went into the decision. Imagine leaving your home after 60 years. Imagine the memories. For us, we think of the great Staten Island stories we broke from the Fingerboard Road plant. The list is almost endless. The talented young reporters who walked into 950 Fingerboard Road green, who learned their craft by writing American Legion and Rotary meeting notices, and obituaries. Who went on to win Pulitzers, or write for major national publications like the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. Who published best-selling books. Some going into the corporate world. The world of television and movies.
But in so many ways the world is changing and a newspaper is a “living and breathing” part of it. We need to adapt and be smart financially.
That’s what we are doing. We are leaving a home we love, but doing it for the right reason: To be fiscally prudent and ensure that our journalism not just continues, but thrives to be better, to serve you, our Staten Island neighbors.
(Brian Laline is executive editor of the Staten Island Advance and SILive.com)