Tom Allon

Tom F. Allon is an American newspaper and website publisher. He is president, publisher and co-owner of City & State NY. Previously he was president and co-owner of Manhattan Media.[1]

Tom Allon
Born
Tom F. Allon

United States
EducationB.A. Cornell University
OccupationNewspaper publisher, writer
Spouse(s)Janet Wickenhaver

He was for five months a candidate for the Republican nomination for mayor of New York City in the 2013 election,[2] but subsequently dropped out of the race.[3] He has since switched his party affiliation back to Democrat.

Early life and education

Allon was raised in a Jewish family[4] on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.[5] Allon attended Stuyvesant High School. He attended Cornell University, where he worked for The Cornell Daily Sun and was its sports editor and a senior editor. He graduated in 1984. He then received a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.[5][6] After graduating from Columbia, Allon taught English at his alma mater, Stuyvesant High School.

Career

From 1986 to 1991, Allon was editor of The West Side Spirit, a community newspaper later owned by Manhattan Media, the company with which Allon eventually rose to CEO. Along with The West Side Spirit, Manhattan Media also published the community newspapers Our Town, The Westsider, the Chelsea Clinton News, the political newspapers City Hall and The Capitol, and the magazines Avenue and New York Family.[7]

Mayoral candidacy

On July 12, 2011, Allon announced that he would run for mayor of the City of New York.[8] He stated that New Yorkers need a leader "like me who thinks like an Israeli: tough and always ready to defend his people."[4] On January 10, 2012, the Liberal Party of New York selected Allon as its mayoral candidate.[9] Allon's chances at winning the Republican nomination dwindled after two better-known candidates, billionaire grocer John A. Catsimatidis and former Metropolitan Transportation Authority chief Joseph J. Lhota, entered the race.[3] While Allon "made a strong impression at a series of candidate forums," his candidacy failed to gain traction, and "his polling numbers mired in the low single digits."[3] Allon also had difficulty attracting campaign donors, reporting just $17,335 in contributions in the two months before he dropped out of the race.[3] Allon withdrew from the race on March 17, his campaign more than $4,000 in debt.[3] The Liberal Party subsequently endorsed Catsimatidis.[10] At the same time, Allon acquired the news organization City & State from Manhattan Media.[11]

Personal life

In 1993, Allon married Janet Wickenhaver, then a freelance crime reporter, in a Jewish ceremony in Soho.[12]

Outside activities and memberships

Allon helped create two public high schools, Eleanor Roosevelt High School on the Upper East Side and Frank McCourt High School on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He also served on the advisory board of the West Side Crime Prevention Program and was the president of the New York Press Association in 2008.

References
  1. Decker, Geoff (July 14, 2011). "Meet Tom Allon, who wants to be your next education mayor". GothamSchools. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
  2. CHEN, David (October 16, 2012). "Mayoral Hopeful Switches to G.O.P." The New York Times. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
  3. Michael M. Grynbaum, Allon Exits Race for New York Mayor (March 18, 2013), New York Times.
  4. David Horovitz (April 12, 2012). "The Hebrew-named outsider bidding to become New York's fifth Jewish mayor". The Times of Israel. Retrieved April 14, 2012.
  5. "From the Spectator To Professional Journalism: The Life of Tom Allon". The Spectator. May 5, 2011. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
  6. Utsav Rai, Cornell Alumnus Will Run For Mayor of New York City Archived June 28, 2013, at Archive.today (February 28, 2012), Cornell Daily Sun
  7. Manhattanmedia.com
  8. Green, Jonah (July 12, 2011). "Tom Allon Enters 2013 New York City Mayoral Race". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  9. Michael Howard Saul, Long-Shot Bid Boosted by Liberals (May 7, 2013), Wall Street Journal.
  10. Michael M. Grynbaum, Liberal Party Backs Catsimatidis (May 7, 2013), New York Times.
  11. "Publisher Tom Allon Purchases News Organization, Drops Out Of Mayoral Race". March 18, 2013. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
  12. Lois Smith Brady (October 17, 1993). "WEDDINGS: VOWS; Janet Wickenhaver and Tom Allon". The New York Times.
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