The New York Sun returns in print to the newsstands of New York this morning, with the debut of a weekly edition on paper of news, comment, and the Sun’s cultural section, Arts+.

The launch of the weekend edition comes 17 years after the famed title folded its print edition. It is animated by what its chairman and publisher, Dovid Efune, calls popular demand.

That’s a reference to the fact that rarely a day passes when the Sun isn’t asked about whether it would return with a print newspaper. The paper folded its previous print edition in 2008, six and a half years after relaunching the iconic title, which was founded in 1833.

“New York’s newsstands will again have two general interest broadsheet papers,” Mr. Efune said. He noted that the first three editions of the weekly print format come in advance of New York’s mayoral election. 

The Sun, historically a rival to the New York Times, was acquired in 2021 by a new company, The New York Sun Company LLC, led by Mr. Efune. It was relaunched early in 2022 as an online daily and has had four years of rapid growth in digital form. Now back in the black, Mr. Efune said, the Sun boasts nearly 2 million email subscribers and tens of thousands of paying members. 

The return of its print product, this time on a weekly basis, features news, editorials, and columns and an Arts+ supplement in every edition. Publisher Dovid Efune hailed the launch as an “important milestone in the Sun’s return to challenge the dominance of the Times.” 

The editor of the Sun, Seth Lipsky, said that since the paper folded its print daily in 2008, it had received many requests that it return to print. “The principles that have animated the Sun over the years are in high demand,” he said. 

The weekly print edition, Mr. Efune said, has also attracted advertiser interest, including various luxury brands and Carnegie Hall. “Here we’re writing for a reader who is fully focused, in a thoughtful frame of mind, and ready to think big ideas and make big decisions,” says the Sun’s vice president of growth, Grant Bollinger.

An annual subscription to the Sun, including both the print and digital editions, is $480. An annual subscription can be acquired on the newspaper’s website. 

A pioneering broadsheet newspaper, the Sun has made many contributions to modern journalism. It was the first to use paperboys, and the first to hire a woman in its newsroom. The Associated Press was founded in the Sun’s offices. The Sun pioneered, among other things, human interest stories, personal ads, crime reporting, fashion coverage, and front page headlines. It still uses its famous slogan, “It Shines for All.”