After noticing the early web success of free New York City commuter tabloid amNew York, rival daily giveaway Metro New York (print circ. 310,000) is refurbishing its own site, the NYT reports. Both sites view the web as critical to their future. While it might seem counterintuitive that office workers will turn to either paper, as opposed to the websites of established dailies, Barry Parr, a media analyst for Jupiter Research, tells the NYT that these papers tend to offer stronger coverage of local news. Though it tended to ignore developing an online audience up to this point (the print edition doesn’t mention its site or even include its URL), Metro is now looking to its French and Swedish counterparts for inspiration on the web.

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Meanwhile, it will have to play catch-up with the Tribune Company’s amNew York, which boasts 315,000 unique monthly visitors, roughly equal to its print circulation.