Gridskipper moves to the Hamptons; readers revolt

The once-readable site Gridskipper, formerly the place to go for all the latest happenings in the best world cities, has, it seems, grown tired of urban life and has shifted its focus to the Hamptons-- that luxury getaway for New York's wealthy-- for the summer. The move comes only a short time after Gridskipper, previously owned by Gawker Media, was bought by the Curbed Network, whose blog The Beach has now turned into Gridskipper. Confused? Me too.

Here's how Gridskipper described the change in a recent post: "Formerly focused on the urban travel experiences, the new Gridskipper knows travel as an exercise in escape and leisure. We spend our weekdays toiling away in office buildings, at the mercy of HVACs, under artificial light and, generally, boxed in. So you'll excuse us, please, if we don't mind a weekend at the beach with two too many glasses of rosé..."

Yawn. There's nothing more boring than a travel website with a career. Pardon me while I remove Gridskipper from my bookmarks... And done.

Gridskipper says its focus won't be on the Hamptons forever. "Come fall, we'll head to Miami, perhaps, then on to Aspen and the Alps."

I'm not the only (former) Gridskipper reader less than thrilled with the change. The comments on the post announcing the "New Gridskipper" are almost unanimously negative-- some brutally so. Some excerpts:

• "Since I don't give a toot about the Hamptons and this appears to be the Hamptons blog now (Miami in the fall, I get it) it doesn't appear that I have any reason to come back. Too bad you evidently know nothing about the appeal of the original. Way to destroy it."

• "I know this might sound shocking to people who don't live in New York, but the vast majority of the world doesn't care what happens to a bunch of rich people in the Hamptons."

• "R.I.P. Gridskipper, you're dead to me now! You will be remembered fondly as the best place to read about dark restaurants in Berlin and Costume Play bars in Tokyo. But I cannot support your vital organs being transplanted into some horrific Hamptons-centric blog where glib media types compare outfits at P. Diddy's 'White Party.'"

Oh yeah, and the archives from the old Gridskipper are nowhere to be found. Brilliant start, Curbed.

Filed under: Business, Blogs, United States, Budget Travel