Jeff Koyen

Last updated
Jeff Koyen
Born1969 (age 5455)
New Jersey, U.S.
OccupationJournalist
Editor
Entrepreneur
Investor
NationalityAmerican
Alma materRutgers University

Jeff Koyen is an American journalist, editor, entrepreneur and investor.

Contents

In 2017, Koyen was honored by the "Society of Professional Journalists"' Deadline Club and the Society of American Business Editors and Writers for his investigation into New York CIty's black market for food cart permits, [1] which was published by Crain's New York Business. [2]

Biography

Koyen was born in 1969 and raised in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey and currently lives in Brooklyn. He is a graduate of Rutgers University. [3]

In April 2012, Koyen founded the software startup Assignmint. [4] In 2015, he founded the sleep-focused website Van Winkle's on behalf of Casper Sleep, the mattress startup. [5]

Controversy

In March 2005, while serving as the editor-in-chief of the New York Press, Koyen ran a satirical story by Matt Taibbi that made light of Pope John Paul II's failing health. The article was widely condemned by Senators Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Matt Drudge, and Abe Foxman, among others, including now-disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner, who encouraged New Yorkers to collect copies of that issue and destroy them. [6]

The publisher responded to the attacks by demanding that Koyen publicly apologize for the article. Koyen instead chose to resign his position. He went on to defend the story, attacking owner David Unger and publisher Chris Rohland in the media, [7] saying "They couldn't handle the controversy... I didn't expect them to cave in and cower so easily. I'm really surprised they were so spineless." [8] [9] [10]

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References

  1. Smerd, Jeremy " Crain's wins prestigious journalism award and is recognized for coverage of Donald Trump", Crain Communications , March 17, 2017
  2. Koyen, Jeff " Inside the underground economy propping up New York City's food carts", Crain Communications , June 12, 2016
  3. Green, Peter S. " A Prague Perspective for a New York Newsroom", The New York Times , February 26, 2003. Accessed December 24, 2007.
  4. Nick Bilton (May 14, 2013). "Start-Up Hopes to Help Freelance Writers Get Paid". The New York Times.
  5. Marshall, Jack " Mattress Company Casper Launches Sleep-Focused Publication ‘Van Winkle's’"
  6. LAWRENCE VAN GELDER (March 8, 2005). "New York Press Editor Quits Over Article". The New York Times.
  7. The Fix Archived 2009-04-16 at the Wayback Machine (March 8, 2005). Salon.com. Retrieved April 13, 2009.
  8. Kurtz, Howard (March 9, 2005). Who's the Next Dan?. Washington Post. Retrieved April 13, 2009.
  9. Haber (Mar 7, 2005). "Jeff Koyen's Exit Interview". gawker. Archived from the original on April 28, 2009. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
  10. "Take This Job and Shove It!". Fast Company. March 8, 2005. Retrieved April 14, 2009.