Does the NY Times Have Too Many Cultural Reporters?

It sure seems that way, when it dispatches one of them to “all but take up residence…for several months” on 25th Street. The assignment: to hang out in the Chelsea art scene, “watching its rites and rituals, talking to its pioneers and newcomers, its ground-floor gods and high-floor hopefuls.”
Maybe Randy Kennedy should go back to stalking the “ground-floor gods” at the Met’s admissions desk.
And another question: Why do all the Chelsea denizens in the Times’ photographs look so grim? Are they just tired of running into Randy, or did they read my post yesterday about the possible impact of the economy on the art market?