A Leading Gay 'Blade' Newspaper Folds

The New York Blade, the biweekly that has covered gay-interest news since 1997, suspended publication this week, and its staff was let go.

The closing follows the sale of the New York City weekly gay bar guide HX to undisclosed buyers by HX Media, which also owns the Blade.

HX Media CEO Matthew Bank told The New York Times the paper had suspended publication. The staff of the Blade had been "let go, but the people on the Blade know that they may come back if the Blade is coming back." Banks could not be reached immediately Thursday.

In the Times article by Jennifer 8 Lee, Bank added that the next issue of the newspaper was scheduled for July 10 and "there are a lot of things that can happen between now and then."

The Blade had a free distribution of 22,000 copies and competed with Gay City News in New York. See A Leading Gay 'Blade' Newspaper Folds Editor & Publisher