According to The New York Observer, former Crimson editor Jennifer 8. Lee ’98-’99, a star Metro reporter for The New York Times, has accepted the paper’s buyout package.

So far, there has been much mystery over where Lee, whose byline is one of the Metro Desk’s most recognizable, will go after she leaves the Times.

Yesterday afternoon, FlyBy was able to reach Lee, who declined to divulge any information regarding her future plans after the Times.

FlyBy did, however, manage to speak to her colleague Sewell Chan ’98, another former crimed who once penned no fewer than 422 articles for the Times in a single year. In an email, Chan, who has known Lee from high school, college, The Crimson, and the Times, wrote, “Jenny and I have been friends for more than 20 years, so her decision to leave The Times leaves me with sadness, even though I am excited about the new career opportunities she is pursuing.”

I terms of what those opportunities might be, find out what Chan wrote after the jump:

“Jenny has told me she plans to pursue her interests in the emerging new forms of journalism and the business models that will support it, at The Times and at other news institutions. She also is a successful book author, and plans to continue as a writer and journalist.”

Lee’s book, The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, explores the historical and cultural presence of Chinese food in America and was featured on the New York Times bestseller list as well as many prominent television programs such as The Colbert Report and The Today Show after its March 2008 publication.

Chan also shared with FlyBy a copy of the speech he gave at the staff sendoff meeting this past Wednesday evening.

“Jenny,” he said in the speech, “you have been like a sister to me – you are a sister to me — and it’s going to be hard imagining The New York Times without you.”

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