Is he unemployed, or just “between jobs”?
The “he” is former Brooklyn Paper Editor Gersh Kuntzman — and the answer, according to the just-fired Newsweek editor as he dropped by Brooklyn Paper Radio this week, is that he is merely enjoying a “peaceful interregnum.”
“So you’re unemployed?” Radio co-host Vince DiMiceli repeatedly implored.
“Between jobs,” Kuntzman said, bringing DiMiceli, co-host Anthony Rotunno, and all of Brooklyn up to date on what he’s been doing since his last day at the online magazine on Feb. 23.
In short, Kuntzman has:
1. Written a young adult novel, “Good Luck Charm,” which DiMiceli said is “surprisingly good.” Kuntzman urged publishers to text him — repeatedly giving his cellphone number (347) 512–4651 — if they are interested in publishing the yarn, which centers on a Met-loving girl who discovers that she is the eponymous lucky charm for the Amazins. “It’s a breeze to read,” DiMiceli added.
2. Started work on his latest “money-losing” theatrical production, “The Earl,” a musical about the invention of the sandwich. It’s by the same team that brought you “Murder at the Food Coop” and “SUV: The Musical,” Kuntzman’s prior money-losing, critical successes.
3. “Been enjoying Brooklyn, our great borough,” Kuntzman said. “It’s great during the day. No one is around and people are pleasant!”
4. Continued to wake up at 6 am so he’s ready for whatever job he can get. “There’s no ‘late bird,’ ” Kuntzman observed, “because the early bird eats up all the worms and the late bird dies of starvation.”
5. Allowed himself the leisure to enjoy New Yorker articles to the very bottom. “If you have time like I do, please read the stinkbug story and the Christopher Steele story,” Kuntzman said. “This is journalism at its best.”
6. Captained an adult hockey team to the championship in the Prospect Park adult hockey league, with a 5–1 win in the finals on Tuesday night.
“But you’re unemployed,” DiMiceli said.
“Between jobs, Vince.”
“He calls me all the time and says, ‘Can we go out for coffee?’ ” DiMiceli said, whining as he quoted Kuntzman.
“Point of information, Vince, I say, ‘Can you buy me a cup of coffee?’ ”
Kuntzman also gave out his cellphone to potential employees.
“You know, Vince and Tony, there’s only one thing I do better than anyone,” Kuntzman said in his elevator pitch. “I take struggling local papers and turn them into award-winning journalistic powerhouses. So if anyone wants to pay me to do that, I am ready.”
That number again: (347) 512–4651. Operators are standing by — and unemployed.
“Between jobs, guys, between jobs,” Kuntzman said.
Brooklyn Paper radio is recorded and podcast live every Tuesday at 4 pm — for your convenience — from our studio in America’s Downtown and can be found, as always, right here on Brook