The New York Times sometimes abbreviated to NYT is an American daily newspaper , founded and continuously published in New York City since September 18 , 1851 , by The New York Times Company . The New York Times has won 117 Pulitzer Prizes , more than any other news organization . The paper ' s print version has the secondlargest circulation , behind The Wall Street Journal , and the largest circulation among the metropolitan newspapers in the United States of America . The New York Times is ranked 39 th in the world by circulation . Following industry trends , its weekday circulation has fallen to fewer than one million daily since 1990 . Nicknamed The Gray Lady , The New York Times has long been regarded within the industry as a national newspaper of record . 12 I ' m sorry , but no . You may not agree with its politics , but it ' s about as reputable and august as a publication gets .