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In an email to staff this afternoon, Time Out New York editor-in-chief Joe Angio announced that he's leaving his job to focus fulltime on marketing and promote his indie documentary on Melvin Van Peebles, How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It), which was well received at the Tribeca Film Festival this year.

Angio is an eight-year vet of the mag, and executive editor Elizabeth Barr will serve as acting EIC until a replacement is found.

We can't imagine you'll notice the change. (There are, after all, only so many ways to do listings and quick reviews, and TONY seems to have found one of the more successful models for doing so.) But, still, it seems like something worth knowing.

Angio's email to staff — which, to be honest, nearly brought a tear to our jaded eye — is after the jump.

hey everyone,

I'm not fond of making speeches, so I'm taking the easy way out and writing an email. after close to eight incredible years here, I'm leaving Time Out. this is probably the toughest decision I've ever had to make, but now that my film is on the verge of being released I feel it's the best time to roll the dice and devote myself full-time to filmmaking. (or at least until I get too hungry..)

when I finished the film in april I was looking forward to a year or so of having only one job; what I didn't anticipate was the time needed to market, promote and distribute an indie film. I began working on this project the same week I started at Time Out; while I was able to successfully juggle both while I was shooting and editing, ironically, it has become increasingly harder to do so now that it's done. and since it's going to require some additional commitments early in the new year, Alison, Tony and I have concluded that now is the best time for me to step aside.

what's difficult is walking away from the best, most rewarding job I've ever had. it will be hard to replace the thrill and adrenaline rush of putting out such a terrific magazine every week; it will be impossible to replace the camaraderie of working with you all. when nancy thanked the edit & art staff yesterday for their blood, sweat and tears, I hope you don't think she was just blowing smoke to get everyone to work harder — you truly are an amazing group of people. I've been at enough other magazines (plus a couple previous tv stops) to have gained the proper perspective of the magnitude of what we accomplish here each week. I suspect that many of you won't appreciate this until you've moved on yourself — god knows, it's one of the things I hear most from TONY staffers who've left for other jobs: how well Time Out prepared them. then, of course, they usually go on to lament the lack of freedom and input they have at other publications and how much they miss TONY's collegial environment. I'm certain to be echoing those sentiments verbatim.

thanks to all of you for your hard work and perseverance, especially during disruptive times like the office move, the switch to K4 and, most recently, to LEO. your talent, knowledge and dedication is what has made TONY successful and is why it will remain so long after I'm gone. you're the best and I'll miss you all.

-joe