New Role for Anna Kodé

Since Anna Kodé first let readers view the ubiquitous fences of Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and Flushing, Queens, through her eyes, she has again and again allowed us to see everyday objects around us in new ways. A sidewalk , a bench , a building . Her stories elevate seemingly mundane aspects of urban life and tell us something larger about our culture and society.

We are excited to announce that Anna, a Real Estate reporter who was informally embedded on Metro last year, will return to cover New York as a character and canvas. She has fully embraced and championed visual journalism as a vital tool to meet audiences where they are. Her Great Read on the urban design of Sesame Street paired with a reporter video with a guest star, Elmo, and her deep dive into Columbia University's gate closure come to mind as examples of her forward thinking.

Anna also has a flair for the written word. Her thriller-like profile of Alice Mason enraptured readers, and her story on the evolution of the Barbie dreamhouse explored the social significance of the toy.

"Anna' s wide-ranging curiosity and ability to see stories hiding in plain sight have made her such an asset here," said Amanda Kludt, Real Estate's interim editor. "We will miss her terribly, but I'll admit many of Anna's best Real Estate pieces often shed a light on the city of New York, which bodes well for this move."

Anna has won awards for her writing on architecture from the National Association of Real Estate Editors three years in a row.

Before she was hired on the Real Estate desk, she was a fellow on the Styles section, where she covered fashion and cultural trends with depth, spearheading an investigation into the dangerous side effects of CoolSculpting and a feature on a religious clash over beards .

In her spare time, she's been working on a book about observing New York, and she also teaches a class on writing about city streets at New York University. Anna grew up between Hyderabad, India, and upstate New York, and currently lives in downtown Manhattan.

She begins on April 27. Please join us in congratulating her and welcoming her back.

- Nikita