Today in Off the Record, New York Times managing editor Jill Abramson talks about the hiring of new metro columnist Susan Dominus. Two additional pieces of information that were not in the piece:

Ms. Abramson said that the idea of hiring Ms. Dominus originally came from deputy metro editor Jodi Rudoren, who recommended Ms. Dominus while Ms. Abramson and Ms. Rudoren were riding a Metro-North train from New Haven to New York.

And when Ms. Abramson was asked whether the hiring of Ms. Dominus--a career magazine writer--suggested a desire by Metro to hire magazine writers more generally, she had this to say: "That wasn't at all a part of the equation. It was just Jodi saying it and me having an immediate, great association with her work and her writing voice, and thinking, Wow, that could be totally interesting. It was just one of those cool ideas that came up in a conversation."

The New York Times has a new metro columnist. Susan Dominus, who has contributed to The Times Magazine, New York and Glamour, will start work this Monday and will write a twice-a-week column for Metro, joining columnists Clyde Haberman, Jim Dwyer and Peter Applebome.

In a memo, Metro editor Joe Sexton wrote:  read more »