Elizabeth Spiers, Editor of The New York Observer, Is Leaving

By THE EDITORS

Elizabeth Spiers, the editor in chief of The New York Observer, will leave the position at the end of this month, the Observer Media Group announced on Wednesday.

A post to the newspaper's Web site said Ms. Spiers was leaving to start a new company.

She will be replaced by the executive editor, Aaron Gell, who will oversee the weekly newspaper, the Web site and other related Web sites like Politicker and VelvetRoper, according to the announcement.

Ms. Spiers took over her post in February 2011, succeeding Kyle Pope and becoming the fourth top editor under Jared Kushner, who bought the paper in 2006. Mr. Gell will become the fifth.

“I'm incredibly proud of what we've built to date and will miss the fun of putting out the Observer every week and doing the kind of smart, witty stories we do,” Ms. Spiers said in the announcement. “But I'm also leaving it in excellent hands and look forward to enjoying it a s a reader with no red pen in my hand.”

She will “take on a part-time consultant role on the business side, focusing her efforts on the development of a creative services team for Observer Media Group,” the post on The Observer's Web site said.