Who

Longtime Timesman Haberman writes a column for the paper's Metro section, where he crustily opines on everything from local politics to traffic regulations.

Backstory

A native of the Bronx, Haberman got his first job in journalism with the New York Post in 1966. He moved over to the New York Times in 1977, working for the "Week in Review" section before heading up the City Hall bureau during the Ed Koch administration. In 1982, Haberman went to Japan to become Tokyo bureau chief; five years later, he was dispatched to do the same in Rome. Following stints in Eastern Europe—where he says he was toughened up by the extreme poverty he witnessed—he was moved to Jerusalem in 1991 and spent four years reporting on the Middle East and Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. In 1995, he came back to New York and began writing his twice-weekly metro section column "NYC," featuring his lighthearted ruminations on life in the city. Hi-tech it's not: In a July 2004 piece on "cellphone courtesy," Haberman flaunted his Luddite status, proclaiming that he doesn't own any such gizmo.

Personal

Haberman is divorced from his first wife Nancy Haberman, a publicist at Howard Rubenstein's Rubenstein Communications. Since the 1980s, he's been married to Kathy Jones, who works at Human Rights First. He has three children and lives on West 87th Street.

Family ties

Haberman's daughter with his first wife, Maggie, has followed in his journalistic footsteps—she's a staff reporter at the Post. She's married to fellow Post reporter Dareh Gregorian, the son of Vartan Gregorian.

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