New York Public Radio said on Tuesday that it would lay off about 7 percent of its staff as it continued to struggle with a financial shortfall.
Twenty-one full-time roles will be eliminated, with three of them becoming part time, the chief executive, LaFontaine Oliver, said in an email to the staff. Seven open roles will also be eliminated.
New York Public Radio operates the WNYC news station and WNYC studios, the Gothamist local news website, the classical music station WQXR, New Jersey Public Radio and the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space.
“We hold a singular place on the local media landscape, and that’s a privilege and a responsibility,” Mr. Oliver wrote. He added, “These actions are necessary: They bring the organization into a financially sustainable position precisely so that this work can continue.”
New York Public Radio will also shut down two programs, “New Sounds,” which has run since 1982, and “New Standards.” (Mr. Oliver said the company would look until the end of May for a philanthropic supporter or new home for “New Sounds.”)
The cuts are the latest in a series over the past few years. In September, 14 of the 302 employees were laid off, with a dozen more taking voluntary layoffs. A year earlier, New York Public Radio announced that it would cut its work force by about 12 percent.
Mr. Oliver said the latest layoffs followed a $1.5 million reduction in operating expenses and a pause on employer matches in the employees’ retirement plan, as well as other steps taken to cut costs, such as streamlining executive leadership by not filling some roles. The moves put the company within “striking distance of break-even for the first time in some years,” he said.
“These staffing reductions have taken place against the backdrop of a dynamic media and political environment that has demanded of us much change and adaptability,” Mr. Oliver said in the email. “I know it hasn’t been easy, and I wish things were different.”
