This morning marks the start of the second year of publication of the new New York Sun, and we don’t mind saying we feel a spring in our step. By our internal estimates, the Sun’s unaudited paid circulation has been averaging in the past three months above 30,000 a day. This is in line with the goal we announced a year ago. We are also happy to announce the launch of an electronic edition of The New York Sun, which can be accessed on the world wide web at nysun.com. To widen our reach further, the Sun is expanding the area in which it is available for home delivery in New York City and surrounding counties. For all this we thank our advertisers, our news sources, our employees and contributing writers, our distributors, and the paper’s friends. Most of all, we thank the growing and loyal group of readers who are making a point of beginning their days with a New York broadsheet that offers a different point of view. A year ago, we said we picked up the flag of the old New York Sun “with a sense of humility but also of optimism.” This year hasn’t quenched either sentiment — if anything, it has fueled both. We wish all of our readers a healthy and prosperous year, and we look forward to marking with you a happy anniversary again on April 16, 2004.