ABOUT THE WEST SIDE RAG

First of all, Welcome to the Rag! Thanks for coming by, and I hope you stay awhile and check out what we have to offer. The Rag is an online newspaper/blog that covers the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Yes, the word “rag” has all sorts of connotations, but it’s meant here to hearken back to the old days of newspapering, when papers used to be called “rags”, often in derision. It also means we don’t take ourselves too seriously.

As far as geography goes, the Upper West Side stretches roughly from 59th to 110th Streets and from Central Park to the Hudson River. But we’re flexible: if something cool is going on at St. John the Divine on 112th, we’ll cover it. If Keanu Reeves strips down to his underwear on 58th Street and 10th Avenue and starts to dance, we won’t let geographic boundaries get in our way. Oh yes, we will tell that story.

The site started publishing in 2011 and in its first year was named one of the four best neighborhood blogs in the city by the Village Voice. Life & Style Weekly called the site “The best insider source about Manhattan’s Upper West Side.”  StreetFight Mag, which covers hyperlocal news, described the site like this:  “Witty, offbeat and well illustrated features on life on the Upper West Side are this site’s hallmarks.”

There are now multiple news and events sites covering this neighborhood. So why read this one? Much of what you’ll find on the web is rehashed and repackaged news, or some version of the “official story”: what do top officials have to say about this or that official event? We care what those officials say, but what we’re really after is the unofficial stories, the ones we haven’t heard before. Why are the drug stores in this neighborhood so ornate, while the schools look like prisons? Why is jacuzzi water falling from the ceiling in the movie theater? Are new developments making the neighborhood more appealing or simply more unaffordable? What’s really in Zabar’s “lobster salad”? In short, what is it like to live on the Upper West Side, circa 2011? What gets people excited, what gets them angry, what makes them laugh?

We will not be afraid to write about the big issues, but we also won’t shy away from totally trivial topics. We’ll also be aggregating news and opinion about the neighborhood and city in our daily bulletin so you can know what’s going on. And every week, we let you know about the best events in the neighborhood.

But what we really love is to hear from people who live here (there are more than 200,000 of you and we have a very large inbox). That’s where we get our best stories and ideas. Please please please send us tips, gripes, stories, and ideas. If you see a new store opening or an old store closing, let us know. If you spot some interesting or troubling graffiti, send us a picture. If you had an awful/wonderful experience at a store/park/restaurant…you get the picture.

Some people have already signed on as columnists (they’re the best in the city, if not the world!), and we would like to add new columnists. If you become a columnist, you can write or take pictures or make videos about whatever you want, so long as they are about the neighborhood. If you’re interested, send an email to: info at westsiderag dot com. Also, be sure to follow us on twitter and like us on facebook.

This site was designed and constructed by Laura Koo Nicholas (www.koonicholas.com).

The West Side Rag is partnering with the LocalVox Marketplace Network, which offers deals and information about local businesses in a widget in the right-hand sidebar.

To reach the editor, email avi at westsiderag dot com.