By Howard Koplowitz
After 19 years at the TimesLedger Newspapers, Publisher Steven Blank has left the company to pursue other interests.
Under Blank, the weeklies were modernized. Color was infused into the pages of the papers and a Web site was established.
As publisher and editor, Blank saw the chain build its reputation for editorial excellence throughout the city, state and country. The group won hundreds of journalism awards under his leadership.
Blank also maintained a presence in the Queens community, with the TimesLedger Newspapers sponsoring events such as job fairs and fund−raising walks for borough organizations.
He sold the weekly chain to News Corporation, parent of the New York Post, in 2006. Two papers, the Woodside Times and Glen Oaks Ledger, were consolidated, reducing the chain to 14 papers.
