Brokelyn was founded in 2009 on the motto “living big on small change.” Well now we’ve got some “big change” to tell you about: Brokelyn has a new owner! We’re now a part of Schneps Communications, an independent family owned media company that publishes several newspapers in South Brooklyn and Queens in addition to the site QNS. It means big changes for Brokelyn down the road, deeper feature stories and more of the same servicey, scrappy, budget living, free-beer-loving tips that you’ve loved for these past seven years. You’ve also got Tim back as editor again, after he returned from three long years toiling away in the salt mines of newspaper journalism (jk it was a great job, but Brokelyn is where his heart and his possibly questionable tattoo choice is). What does this mean for you, the Brokelyn reader?
Good things! We’re going to keep doing all the stuff you love and bring back some recurring old features; plus we’ll be putting more emphasis on deeper features (like Sam’s look at what those mysterious “service fees” on your tickets are used for) and interviews with up and coming talent like Julio Torres, Naomi Ekperigin and The Prettiots. You can expect us to keep championing picklebacks and defending jorts every chance we get.
We’ll also keep publishing our Brooklyn Beer Books (which you can still buy here), plus Cocktail Books, Wine Books and the Queens Beer Book. Plus, we’ll be doing more events and some other fun stuff we’ll announce soon. Sam Corbin, who’s been a key staff writer for years, is moving up to be our managing editor.
The Brokelyn staff owes a great deal of gratitude to Faye Penn, who founded Brokelyn in the depths of the recession and rallied the forces of creative living to prove that enjoying New York City isn’t just for people with trust funds.
Faye recently accepted a position as editorial projects director at InStyle, where she’s working on brand extensions and partnerships.
“I’ve had so much fun with Brokelyn,” Penn said. “When I decided to sell the business, I wanted to find a publisher who would honor the Brokelyn’s voice, spirit and relationship with readers. I felt that Josh really got it — and the edit is in great hands with Tim. I’m really excited about their plans for the site.”
We also owe a big thanks to Dave Colon, who was editor of the site for the past three years and helped shape Brokelyn into what it is today. If you’re looking for a freelance writer, hire Dave today!
This means we’re also looking for new pitches and new writers: If you’ve got something you want to write for Brokelyn, email us at tim@brokelyn dot com today! We’re interested in service journalism, roundups, first-person tales of your brokester life, stories about dating woes, lifehacks, profiles with interesting people and anything you think tells the story of the trying to survive in the world while doing things you love.
We’re also looking for that special someone to join our sales team! We need an outgoing personality to share with businesses how awesome Brokelyn is and how it can help grow their own businesses and events. Email jschneps@schnepscommunications dot com if interested.
In the meantime, don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and sign up for our newsletter. And stay tuned as we go broke to the future. Thanks for reading!