Ben Widdicombe is joining The New York Observer as a contributing editor. The Observer reports that Widdicombe will pen a regular column for the paper. He will also remain editor of Gilt City.

Widdicombe was the founder of the Daily News’ popular gossip column, GateCrasher. He wrote the column from 2004 to 2008.

“This is just the latest good news for the Observer,” said Rafi Kohan, the Observer’s deputy edior, in a statement. “Ben is the best, so obviously we’re excited to have him.”

The latest issue of Observer Philanthropy features a list of the “20 Most Important Young Philanthropists” and surprisingly, Eric Trump graces the cover. He’s also praised inside and proclaimed a “powerhouse.”

Trump, as you probably know, is the brother-in-law of the Observer’s owner, Jared Kushner. What a crazy coincidence!

The New York Observer’s latest issue featured a list of “The Most Influential New Yorkers of the Past 25 Years.” New York’s Daily Intelligencer caught up with Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump — who both made the list — and surprise! They both spoke glowlingly about the paper.

The Donald wanted everyone to know that he not only loved the Observer, he just learned the word ”vibrant:”

I picked up the paper. I read the most vibrant paper and I called Jared [Kushner]. I said, ‘This paper is vibrant.’ The last issue was so great. Not because I was in it, by the way. It was just so great. And I said, ‘You’ve really done a great job, because it was so vibrant.’

Ivanka echoed those sentiments, but failed to use the word of the day:

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Aaron Gell has decided to move on. Only weeks after Ken Kurson was named editor-in-chief at the New York Observer, thereby demoting Gell, he emailed staffers to announce that he was leaving the paper. Gell had been with the Observer since 2010.

In the memo obtained by Capital New York, Gell said he is leaving to do some consulting for a start-up.

A snippet from the note:

Working for the Observer has been the best experience of my career; I credit that to all of you, especially, but also to Peter and all the writers and editors who passed through and helped create a newspaper that despite, ahem, everything has remained such a special place to work. It has been an absolute blast. There really is no publication like it in the world. Maybe for a reason, but still.

Ken Kurson has been named the new editor-in-chief of The New York Observer. Kurson has been a contributor to Esquire since 1997, a political consultant and speechwriter for Rudy Guiliani, and has worked at Jamestown Associates, a political communications firm in New Jersey. No word on what will happen to Aaron Gell, who was named the paper’s interim editor after Elizabeth Spiers departed in August of last year.

As the New York Times notes, Kurson’s Republican ties will certainly cause some to wonder (perhaps more than they already do) about the objectivity of the Observer.

Kurson, of course, thinks it’s no big deal. “People will think what they want,” he told the Times. “I will have to earn their trust. I have had a long and honorable journalistic career, calling it like I see it and being a straight shooter.”

“Ken knows the ideas, stories and voices that make up New York better than anyone,” wrote Jared Kushner, in a note to staffers announcing the move. “He is a journalist and an author and through his years as a consultant observed the figures who create the framework of business, politics, media, tech, culture and real estate in our city.”

The New York Observer has named Emily Anne Epstein its new managing editor and Faye Penn its new executive editor. Epstein comes to the paper from The Daily Mail. Her work has appeared in publications such as Time, The New York Times and The Week.

Penn was formerly a features editor for The New York Post and New York. She is also the founder of Brokelyn, a popular blog about living on a budget in Brooklyn.

Capital New York reports that Michael Woodsmall, the Observer’s previous managing editor, is now on the Observer Group’s business side.

The Observer Media Group, parent of The New York Observer, has named Michael Albanese its new president. The New York Post reports that Albanese, the former publisher of Spin, resigned from the magazine Monday.

Albanese had been with Spin since 2006.

Albanese takes over for Christopher Barnes, who left Observer Media in the beginning of August. Elizabeth Spiers also departed the paper at that time.

For those of you who decide who to vote for based on newspaper endorsements, The New York Observer is officially in Mitt Romney‘s corner:

A candidate has emerged from the rough and tumble of the primaries with his dignity intact. The system has produced not a demagogue but a manager, a candidate whose experience is rooted in the pragmatism of the business world rather than the ideology of partisan politics.

That candidate is Mitt Romney.

Please note that this vote of confidence occurred before last night’s debate.

Velvet Roper, the nightlife site from The New York Observer, is being shut down. According to The New York Post, the soon-to-launch website for Scene magazine — a glossy about where rich people hang out — will replace velvetroper.com. Julie Dannenberg, CEO of Scene, said the magazine is “doing well,” which we assume is the opposite of how Velvet Roper was doing.

Aaron Gell, editor-in-chief of the Observer, sort of confirmed that by telling the Post, “Scene needs an online home, and it became obvious we are just competing with ourselves. Scene is the stronger brand.”

Laura Griffin, editor of Velvet Roper, is now listed as a consultant.

Elizabeth Spiers left the New York Observer in August, and ever since then, the floodgates appear to be open. Capital New York reports that another Spiers hire, Megan McCarthy, is departing the paper. McCarthy is the fourth Observer staffer to leave within a couple weeks.

The others who departed include Foster Kamer (left for Complex), Brian Gallagher (moving) and Laura Griffin (unknown).

McCarthy did not say what her plans for the future were.