Opinion: New York loses a powerful voice

Running into my building neighbor Tom Robbins was always a treat for me. Even in those brief, impromptu encounters, he’d educate me with a searingly insightful take on the latest City Hall shenanigans or entertain me with his sardonic – but never cynical – view of our crazy political world both locally and nationally.

Tom Robbins was a journalist’s journalist. He was skeptical, probing and highly principled. He left his mark on many great journalism institutions in New York: City Limits, The Village Voice, The New York Observer, the Daily News, The New York Times and The City, to name just a few. He belongs among the pantheon of great New York reporters and columnists like Jimmy Breslin, Pete Hamill, Gail Collins and Wayne Barrett, Robbins’ own friend and writing partner.

Late in his storied career, he became the CUNY J-school’s Investigative Reporter in Residence, and from that important perch, he mentored hundreds of future journalists who learned at the feet of one of the masters of the craft.

Robbins was opinionated but not dogmatically ideological. Although his politics leaned left, he could skewer deserving Democratic leaders with the same ferocity he used on Republicans and, in the 1980 and 1990s, a flashy real estate developer named Donald Trump.

Robbins was an early antagonist to the highly conflicted eventual president. In 1990, when Trump was merely an outspoken builder bashing immigrants, Robbins broke the story in the Daily News that Trump had used undocumented Polish workers to clear the land that eventually became Trump Tower.

Robbins started his career as a cabbie and community organizer before he caught the journalism bug. I recall meeting him 40 years ago when he was the editor of City Limits, a hard-hitting publication that covers affordable housing and other important social justice issues.

A Columbia J-school classmate of mine in 1985 was interviewing with Robbins for an editing position at City Limits while at the same time applying for an editing position at a finance magazine. My classmate told me that when he called Robbins to inform him he had chosen the financial journalism position, Robbins politely admonished him for passing up a job “about really important issues.”

That’s the Tom Robbins I got to know and love. He was charming and courteous, but he politely and firmly let you know when he disagreed with your views.

Robbins was a prolific writer, editor and educator. Despite his recent illness, he worked until the last week of his life. He was asked to submit a journalism tip each week for a CUNY J-school newsletter. Here was a recent vintage Robbins tip:

Tom’s Tip of the Week - Feb 3, 2025

Showing Up

Say what you will about him, Eric Adams has been one of the more memorable mayors of our time. How much longer will he be in office? No one knows, but he is back to his daily schedule of ribbon cuttings, flag raising and often scrappy press conferences.

Since showing up can be the biggest (and most fun) part of a reporter’s job, take the opportunity to see him in action. Check the AP Daybook and his media postings for time and place. He’s always a good story.

Robbins was an old-school reporter who always showed up and asked the tough questions. He knew how to keep elected leaders accountable, and he had a great nose for malfeasance and corruption.

His brand of journalism is part of a bygone era, and we can only hope that his many journalism students at CUNY and legion of protégés can pay tribute to him by showing up, FOILing important documents and speaking to many sources so they can produce the kind of work he became acclaimed for over his nearly five-decade career.

Robbins not only leaves behind former students (including City & State’s own Sahalie Donaldson), admiring colleagues and loyal readers, but also a legion of award-winning journalists whom he quietly took under his wing.

“Tom was my mentor when I was starting out at the NY Observer,” wrote New Republic editor Michael Tomasky in one of the many Robbins tributes that popped up on Facebook yesterday. “My hunger to learn about NY politics was insatiable. And Tom with patience and wisdom and kindness, showed me the ropes – told me who this and that person were, shared sources and explained to me why it was so funny that Norman Adler punched Fred Dicker that one time in Albany. I try to emulate Tom in my dealings with young journalists, and I will carry him with me always. He’s irreplaceable.”

Indeed, Tom Robbins was a great journalist, a great man, a great colleague, a great friend, a great educator and a great mentor.

I count myself among the thousands of New Yorkers who will miss him and the important work he did. As one of his many bereft friends wrote on Facebook: “If anyone deserves to rest in peace, it is Tom Robbins.”