Possible Clues:

• Big Apple media inits
• WaPo alternative
• Major paper, for short
• Big paper, for short
• Crossword editor Will Shortz's paper, for short
• "The 1619 Project" publisher, for short
• W.S.J. competitor
• Paper read on the LIRR or Metro-North, perhaps
• Big Apple paper, initially
• The Gray Lady of the press: Abbr