Because no other paper in the universe would produce this piece:

Stop by Stop, Subway’s Decline and Growth

in 2009

Every year, New York City Transit releases a station-by-station breakdown of ridership in the biggest subway system in the nation. Shake-ups are rare; the usual suspects — Times Square, Grand Central Station — routinely top the list, and last year was no exception. [Excellent graphics here.]

And this piece is no exception: The New York Times is the Eternal Assignment Desk for the journalism world at large.

A small sampling:

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle pecked at the Times piece, the Newark Star-Ledger toted it up, and a Village Voice blog gave it a full-throated shoutout. (See the whole xerox journalism set here.)

The New York Times: All the News That’s Fit to Print (Elsewhere)