S. Mitra Kalita, founder and publisher
Mitra is a veteran journalist, media executive, prolific commentator and author of two books.
She is also the co-founder a new media company called URL Media, a network of Black and Brown owned media organizations that share content, distribution and revenues to increase their long-term sustainability. She’s on the board of the Philadelphia Inquirer and writes a weekly column for Time Magazine.
Mitra was most recently SVP at CNN Digital, overseeing the national news, breaking news, programming, opinion and features teams. She was previously managing editor for editorial strategy at the Los Angeles Times and the executive editor (at large) for Quartz, Atlantic Media’s global economy site, and was its founding ideas editor.
She is the author of two books related to migration and globalization, including the highly acclaimed “Suburban Sahibs,” and speaks seven languages (but only four of them half decently).
Fave NYC activity: Walk in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Nitin Mukul, co-founder and creative director
Nitin is a visual designer, gallery artist, and community arts activist
Past desk-oriented posts include: PBS, Digitas, K12, Inc., Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and Sesame Workshop International.
Gallery representation and museum credits include: Aicon Gallery, ICA Philadelphia, The Guild, Nature Morte, Lincoln Center, The Rubin Museum of Art, The Queens Museum, Pioneer Works and others. See www.nitinmukul.com
Fave NYC activity: Getting lost in the Metropolitan Museum of Art or a good record store.
Danielle Hyams, editorial director
Danielle is a writer, photographer and world traveler. She attended CUNY Graduate School of Journalism before becoming Epicenter-NYC’s first employee in April 2020 — peak pandemic! She loves seltzer water, busy markets and community.
Fave NYC activity: Visiting Brighton Beach.
Daniel Laplaza, community manager
Daniel lives and breathes community engagement, working to connect basic news and information to folks who need it. He recently helped create the Open Newsroom, an initiative between the City and Brooklyn Public Library. Outside of work, Daniel enjoys long conversations, Kurt Vonnegut and Ovelia in Astoria, where he lives. He attended CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and Boston University, and is passionate about subway accessibility and video storytelling. He oversees community engagement (including our tremendously successful vaccine van in Queens Village!), social media, livestreams and connecting our multimedia efforts to neighbors on and off the internet. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @djlaplaza.
Fave NYC activity: Grabbing a sandwich at Sal, Kris, & Charlie’s Deli and reading at Astoria Park.
Andrea Pineda-Salgado, community reporter
Andrea has been on the frontlines of several stories such as vaccine inequity and hesitation, the displacement of tenants after an eight-alarm fire, underemployment during the pandemic, the struggle for affordable housing and the future of basement apartment dwellers. She’s the voice of our weekly podcast and centers the communities of Queens, at once local and global, and their uplift in her work. Her reporting often captures people in times of tragedy and vulnerability, but focuses on empowering our audiences with actionable news and information. Andrea lives in Corona, and is a 2021 graduate of New York University, and is a former Epicenter intern. Andrea reports from neighborhoods across the city, hosts our podcast, posts multimedia stories on Instagram (check out her Citifield’s vaccine dispatches) and helps us figure out the ground-up lens on coverage of city government. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram @apinedasalgado.
Fave NYC activity: a walk through the High Line!
