Clearing Out the Gray Lady's Attic

It's auction season in the art world, but lucky employees of the New York Times are being treated to their own private auction this week, sources inside the newspaper's 97-year-old faux-chateau headquarters on West 43rd Street said.

The occasion? With NYTers in the process of moving over to a new 52-story building on 8th Avenue between 40th and 41st streets, the Times held auctions with employees bidding on a number of items that apparently didn't find any love in the new building.

Some notable items auctioned off at live bidding on Monday in the company cafeteria include:

-- A "Stop the Presses" button

-- Various famous photographs including an iconic Lewis Hine photo of a construction worker sitting on the Chrysler building and a number of 9/11 photographs.

-- Decorative New York Times china

-- Amish and Navajo quilts

But the choice item up for grabs had to be the white globes--inscribed "Times" in the paper's signature Gothic lettering, above--that rested on light fixtures outside the building.

One globe sold for over $3,000 and the other went for a healthy $4,000. A mighty sum for anyone on a journalist's salary, even one who works at the newspaper of record.

The proceeds from the auction will go to the New York Times scholarship fund. The soon-to-be old Times building was sold to Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev last month for $525 million.

And a note to eBay junkies: Start watching out for New York Times memorabilia. I know I'll be.

by Zubin Jelveh

(Full disclosure: The Gray Lady was my former employer.)

Photograph by Mark Lennihan/Associated Press