The first day I arrived at the Daily News in 1987 happened to be the last day of work for more than 50 veteran reporters forced into early retirement by one of those belt-tightening company buyouts that would soon become an annual ritual at so many corporations across the land.

This was before the Internet and smartphones and social media turned the printed versions of daily newspapers into quaint artifacts. The newsrooms of this great city were brimming back then with legendary columnists who could take your breath away with a single phrase — people like Jimmy Breslin, Murray Kempton, Pete Hamill, Liz Smith, Jack Newfield, Sidney Schanberg and Tom Wicker.