This issue launches the Rail’s new editorial section. Longtime readers may of course say, “but I thought the entire Rail was an extended set of opinion pages.” Perhaps, but in our format, we owe readers a clear organization of content. This is not to say that the other pages of each issue will be devoid of challenging viewpoints, rest assured. It’s just that the opinions elsewhere will be rendered both more journalistically and more artfully.

Herein, writers and readers may sound off about the world directly. The terrain is open, and clarity is our foremost consideration. As a non-profit organization, The Brooklyn Rail, Inc. cannot lobby for or against candidates for political office. Opinions expressed in these pages are solely of the writers alone, and the Rail does not necessarily endorse the work of any organization that may turn up in its Express section.

The rest is up to you.