Veteran journalist Gersh Kuntzman has been named the new collaborative editor of The Local, an innovative hyperlocal news site run by the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism in partnership with The New York Times.

Kuntzman, editor-in-chief of The Brooklyn Paper and Brooklyn Courier, will succeed J-School alum and Brooklyn Based Senior Editor Annaliese Griffin, who has served in the role for nearly two years.

Kuntzman, who worked as a reporter for the New York Post and wrote an online column for Newsweek during his two-decade career in journalism, also will teach a class built around the website, which serves Fort Greene and Clinton Hill in Brooklyn. He said his goal for The Local is to make it “a more urgent and intense news site so it becomes a viable first-read for people in that neighborhood.” He also views it as a great vehicle for giving students big-city news experience.

“Gersh is an authority on all things Brooklyn,” said J-School Associate Dean Judith Watson. “He is also a leader in community-based journalism, and has mentored many young journalists during his reporting and editing career.” Added Griffin: “He’s a natural as the next leader of The Local.”

The Local is a re-imagined neighborhood news outlet whose mission is to give the community the tools, training, and platform to report on itself. J-School students are charged with producing stories in multiple media, as well as working with community contributors.

The Times started the site, which is part of nytimes.com, in March 2009. Since January 2010, The Local has been run day-to-day by J-School professors and students in consultation with The Times.