WSJ readies New York edition

John Koblin of the New York Observer reports Wednesday about the plans for The Wall Street Journal to launch a New York edition later this year.

Koblin writes, “The Journal‘s New York bureau, expected to launch on April 12, will be staffed with roughly three dozen staffers, three times more than the dozen or so the paper had planned for just three months ago. As we’ve reported, Mr. Murdoch has set aside a budget of $15 million for the project. There are plans for a daily stand-alone New York section, an Albany bureau, a City Hall bureau, a crime beat, a sports section and a culture section — in other words, a new, full-fledged New York paper, and one, incidentally, that is looking increasingly like the now defunct New York Sun.

“The Journal‘s bureau will be led by John Seeley, the former managing editor of The Sun. So far, he has hired Sun veterans including, scoopmeister Jacob Gershman, The Sun‘s former local politics writer who has been writing a column for the New York Post and freelancing for New York magazine; Kate Taylor, a former arts writer for The Sun; Erica Orden, another former arts writer for The Sun; and Ryan Sager, a former features editor and editorial writer for the Sun. The paper has also hired the Daily News‘ Michael Saul, who is something of a star on the local scene.

“(Mr. Seeley did not respond to an email seeking comment, and a Journal spokesman declined to comment).”

Read more here.