According to the SoHo Weekly News Online, “From October 1973 until March 1982 the SoHo Weekly News was New York City’s hippest paper and guide to what was happening in Fun City.” SoHo Weekly News publisher Michael Goldstein outlined the goals of the newspaper in its premier issue:
We are planning to report what’s going on down here honestly and fairly. To do that we need your help–in telling us your problems, filling us in on what’s happening and keeping us generally informed. (Vol. 1 No. 1 in October 11, 1973)
Writer and former SWN Music Editor Peter Occhiogrosso wrote in 2003 that
The Soho Weekly News began with modest intentions in October 1973. Founder and publisher Michael Goldstein once said he started the paper so that Soho residents could stop hanging fliers everywhere to let other residents know what was happening. In effect, it was a neighborhood paper meant to focus on local news, with the expectation of adding of local arts coverage. (source)