Northforker, the premier website and magazine for food, wine and fun on the North Fork of Long Island, has hired former TV producer and writer Monique Singh-Roy as its first full-time reporter.
Singh-Roy, who has spent two decades working in the New York City TV news industry, most recently worked as a freelance producer for News12 Long Island. She moved to East Quogue in 2011 after living most her life in Brooklyn and Manhattan. She shares her home with her husband Eric Shultz, a Southampton Town Trustee and also runs the local food blog, YourPotluck.com.
She began in her new role on Monday, June 1.
“I am looking forward to the opportunity to explore the North Fork with our readers,” said Singh-Roy. “There are so many places I want to check out. I want to know the North Fork like the back of my hand. I want it to feel like home. I hope to some day become an expert.”
Singh-Roy will help expand northforker’s coverage of the region’s parks, beaches, local craft food and beverage industries, innovations in local agriculture, real estate market and more.
“What made Monique stand out was that she brings an outsider’s perspective to the region, but has a genuine and deep appreciation for all the East End of Long Island has to offer. As about a quarter of our readers live in Brooklyn and Manhattan, it was a natural fit to bring someone on board who sees the North Fork from that point of view,” said northforker editor Vera Chinese. “She also has a natural curiosity that is necessary to be a good journalist and will bring a fresh voice to tell the stories of all the interesting people of the North Fork.”
Northforker, a subsidiary of Times Review Media Group, launched on May 23, 2013 and has grown significantly in the past two years. It garnered more than 1.5 million page views in the past 365 days, a 600,000 increase over the previous year.
Northforker’s Long Island Wine Press, its flagship magazine, is published quarterly with 50,000 copies of its summer issue alone distributed across the East End every year.
“In its first two years the site has grown dramatically,” Times Review executive editor Grant Parpan said of northforker.com. “Our readership has shown there is a real hunger for news about the North Fork food, wine and tourism scene and we’re happy to deliver it to them. Hiring a new reporter, particularly one with Monique’s ability, will only enable us to provide more and better content for that particular set of readers.”
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Read more about Singh-Roy below.
Tell us about your background?
I grew up in New York and Connecticut and studied journalism. I started working in TV in the city. I worked at NBC and WPIX.
To me journalism is basically telling a story. You are not historians but you are telling history. So you have to get it right and you have to make it interesting.
I wanted to get into more features, so to me this was the natural progression. I was more interested in writing than getting into management.
Before, I always felt like a transplanted New Yorker.
I live out here I work out here. This is going to be my life.
I finally feel like an East Ender.
As someone from NYC, what draws you about the East End?
I’ve always been a curious person, that’s probably why I got into working in journalism. If I haven’t seen it or experienced it, I’m interested in it. That doesn’t mean I’m going to go sky diving or climb Mount Kilimanjaro, but I’m interested.
When I moved out here all you heard about was the Hamptons — I didn’t know there was anything else out here.
But there was so much, from the farms to the shellfish industry to fishing to the history of the towns, there is so much [information] that doesn’t make it all the way to NYC.
Theres so much more to explore out here, that’s why I started the blog, to explore places. Coming from the city, this a 360 degree change.
I live on a road that has no traffic at night. Just to walk outside and stand in the middle of the road is mind boggling after living in Manhattan for so many years. To walk outside and not give a hoot who’s in front of you or what is behind you is liberating.
And it’s such a beautiful place to live. Its something I appreciate every day.
What are some of your favorite spots on the North Fork?
I love Greenport. Aldo’s coffee is probably the most amazing coffee I’ve ever had in my life. I love hanging out on the docks watching the ferries go back and forth. And Claudio’s of course.
It’s a great strolling town. Coming from New York City, that’s a big thing for me.
I do like the Riverhead Farmers Market. I love the East Quogue Wildlife Refuge: They have hundreds of acres of paths that you can walk.
I love Osprey’s Dominon. It’s a great place to bring friends. But I’m still learning and discovering the wineries and there’s so many I haven’t been to yet.
I love Hallockville [Museum Farm] and the classes that they have. I love the North Fork. It’s so visual.
What are you looking forward to most in your role?
The opportunity to explore the North Fork with readers. What I’m learning about is just as new to me as it is to [some of] them.
I’m discovering the North Fork with the readers and northforker at the same time. There are so many places I want to check out. From Lavender by the Bay to The Baiting Hollow Hummingbird Sanctuary, I want to know the North Fork like the back of my hand. It’s a special trip to come up here.
