Departing Times-men Toast Old Home

TIMES ARE A CHANGIN' New digs

On Thursday night, New York Times staffers will celebrate their escape from their dingy, cramped office on West 43rd Street with a moving-out party. Fittingly, the event will be a low-rent affair: Invitees were instructed to bring their own alcohol. Snacks, however, are on the house. Thanks, Sulzbergers!

The new headquarters building, on Eighth Avenue, is, by all accounts, a major upgrade, with plenty of open space and cubicles paneled in cherrywood veneer rather than drab fabric. The cafeteria is run by Restaurant Associates, the same firm that does the much-beloved (or at least beliked) dining halls in the Condé Nast and Hearst buildings. The Page One conference room has a vast table the length of a small yacht, a huge flat-panel TV screen, and a drop-down movie screen onto which the next day's photo options can be projected.