NEW YORK - May 4, 2009 - The New York Times Co. said last night that it is notifying federal authorities of its plans to shut down the Boston Globe, raising the possibility that New England's most storied newspaper could cease to exist within weeks.

After down-to-the-wire negotiations did not produce millions of dollars in union concessions, the Times Co. said it will file today a required 60-day notice of the planned shutdown under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification law.

The company and union had set a deadline of midnight last night to forge an agreement. But negotiations continued until 8 a.m. and the company fashioned agreements with the unions representing mailers and drivers during the extended talks, the Associated Press reported. However, talks with other unions, including the Boston Newspaper Guild, are expected to continue later this week.

The threatened shutdown could amount to a negotiating ploy to extract further union concessions, since the notice does not require the Times Co. to close the paper after 60 days.