The New York Times has named Leonard Apcar as the digital division's new editor-in-chief to replace the retiring Bernard Gwertzman.

The 49-year-old Apcar is slated take over the reins of NYTimes.com on June 10th.

Gwertzman, 67, is retiring after six years running the online news site, which he helped to launch. He is also retiring after 27 years as a Timesman.

In a memo to the New York Times newsroom (which was posted on MediaNews Thursday), Howell Raines, executive editor of The New York Times and NYTD chief Martin Nisenholtz praised Apcar and his predecessor. They also outlined what's in store for the site.

"Len will lead us in a joint effort of the newsroom and New York Times Digital to expand and improve the Times's presence online," the memo said.

Chief among the priorities, it continued, will be to tap expertise throughout the newsroom for important upcoming projects, including the redesign of the home page and the introduction of new features throughout the site.

The expansion will include more up-to-date news, more photography, more staff written articles and expanded audio and video, to build a "true 24/7 operation" and provide more Web producers too.

Apcar has been with the paper for 11 years, first as an editor in the newspaper's Business Day section. Prior to the promotion to editor-in-chief of NYTD, he was assistant foreign editor for enterprise on the foreign desk.

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Before joining the Times, Apcar was a Wall Street Journal correspondent in Detroit, Washington and Dallas. He also worked as a business editor for the St. Petersburg Times.

In a statement announcing the appointment, Raines said, "Len Apcar is a seasoned journalist whose editing and reporting skills are admired throughout our newsroom. He will build on the great contributions that Bernie Gwertzman made in establishing our Web site's reputation for quality journalism."

Neisenholtz said the digital division was very fortunate to have Gwertzman's expertise and vision during the advent of Web journalism, and he has helped us achieve our position today as the leading newspaper site on the Web. Bernie has trained and developed an editorial team that is top-notch, and he will be missed."

Apcar is to report to Neisenholtz, who said of the new editor: "We look forward to the journalistic experience he will bring to our organization, and the leadership he will bring to our editorial team."