Media Mavens: People Person

In 2008, Leslie Jay profiled Andy for Q Magazine as part of a broader "Media Mavens" feature which highlighted Queens College professors who had become trusted expert sources for journalists in New York City and beyond.

Andy is featured here under the subheading "People Person" – a fitting label for a scholar whose command of demographic data made him a behind-the-scenes force behind dozens of major New York Times stories, covering topics from the baby boom among wealthy Manhattanites to the earning power of young New York women.

The piece captures Andy at the height of his public influence, a Queens College sociology professor whose GIS-driven research had made him, in effect, one of the most consequential data journalists in the city – even if, under the terms of his Times contract, he couldn't always take credit for it.