The New York Times has named Carolyn Ryan its political editor. Ryan was most recently the paper’s metro editor. Wendell Jamieson, most recently deputy metro editor, will succeed Ryan as metro editor.

In a memo announcing the changes, the Times’ executive editor Jill Abramson and managing editor Dean Baquet wrote, “While we may be cutting short her fabulous run as Metropolitan Editor, it seems only natural to turn to Carolyn to be our next political editor and lead our coverage. Yes, we are beginning earlier than usual, but with a mayoral race, the Clintons, an ambitious governor, congressional races and the walk up to 2016, it seems urgent to have a full-time political chief and Carolyn is raring to go.”

The full note from Abramson and Baquet is below.

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Earlier today, we reported the news that The New York Times‘s metro reporter and bureau chief Sewell Chan was leaving the New York office — and the City Room blog — for a gig in the paper’s Washington bureau. He’s being replaced by Andy Newman.

FishbowlNY has gotten its hands on the memo that went out today from metro editors Joe Sexton and Wendell Jamieson to the staff.

In the memo, Sexton calls Chan a genius:

“…a reporter who took a mighty dare with a new genre, inhabited it, and remade it. City Room, sometimes called a blog, was and is, of course, way more than that. And Sewell, its creator and conscience and beating heart from Day 1, was no less than all of that.”

There’s also thoughtful quotes from executive editor Bill Keller and a heartful introduction for Newman by Jamieson. Read the full memo after the jump

Previously: Changes At Two NYT Blogs

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They don’t call them classics for nothing! Twice this week we’ve noticed writers comparing storylines from our favorite Christmas movies to the current economic crisis. First in last week’s Times where Wendell Jamieson noted that in real life George Bailey could have been jailed(!) for losing all of Bedford Fall’s money (the not very wonderful bank run scene is after the jump). And today John Carney examines how Scrooge’s banking philosophy led to the panic of 1847. Bah humbug!

Be that as it may, we here at FishbowlNY are in the (real) Christmas spirit and would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, and we will see you again next week.

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