New York Real Estate Journal's 25th Anniversary Publisher's Message

In putting together our 25th Anniversary Issue, we asked our readers to share with us the number of years they have been a subscriber, the year they discovered the NYREJ and their most memorable 15 minutes of fame. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this issue and took the time to share. I enjoyed reading all 102 of them! Hearing first hand from so many people the impact we have been able to make on the industry makes all of our efforts worthwhile and has inspired me to share my own story of when I first discovered the NYREJ and how it has been a benefit to me. I first discovered the NYREJ in 1993 when I began working for the New England Real Estate Journal. The NYREJ was just a few years old, one section and just 40 pages and quite honestly, I did not pay much attention to it because I was hired to be the publisher of the Connecticut section of the New England Real Estate Journal. At the time, I knew nothing about commercial real estate, publishing or advertising. I gained commercial real estate knowledge through the Journal, and Roland Hopkins taught me about publishing and advertising. He let me pick his brain, or maybe he was brainwashing me... it does not matter, he taught me not be afraid to try new things, to be humble and through the power of the press and my role as publisher I could help small companies grow. I left in 1997 knowing that when the time was right, I would return. In 2004, with a husband, a house and a 15 month old baby, that time came. The NYREJ was now publishing 6 sections and over 100 pages per issue. With the help our many regular monthly and quarterly columnists and diligent marketing and public relations people I was able to quickly learn about the commercial real estate capital of the world, New York. Thank you to everyone who has supported the NYREJ during the last 25 years with their editorial and advertising contributions. We could not have done it without you. As you flip through the issue, please enjoy 25 of our staff-picked "Favorite Firsts." Kristine Wolf is the publishing director of NYREJ, Norwell, Mass.