NY Times considering a free daily

Michael Calderone of the New York Observer reports that the New York Times Co. is looking at the idea of launching a free daily in New York to compete with amNewYork and New York Metro. Calderone says the planning for this new paper is in the earliest of stages -- Editor Bill Keller said in an e-mail "It's one of many projects that are in the noodling stage." The Times has become a partner in Boston Metro, and it is in a joint venture with Metro NY to re-run its classifieds to give those ads more reach. Broadsheets in Chicago and Washington, D.C., have both spun off free tabloids.