SFist, Sister Sites Abruptly Shut Down

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Two popular New York City blogs, and their satellite sites in Chicago, San Francisco and elsewhere have been shut down a week after their staffs voted to unionize.

Joe Ricketts, the CEO of DNAinfo, said in a post on the site Thursday that the decision was due to business reasons. Ricketts says in the post that the company hadn't made enough progress to support the "tremendous effort and expense" needed to keep the company running.

Screenshot of a letter written by CEO Joe Ricketts posted on Gothamist sites including SFist on November 2, 2017. (CBS)

Ricketts bought Gothamist earlier this year. Unlike DNAinfo, which was more straight, shoe-leather news, Gothamist offered quirky takes on New York City life, from news to restaurant reviews to to-do guides. It had a lively comments section and sister sites such as SFist in San Francisco, Chicagoist and LAist in Los Angeles.