Daily News photo chief jumps ship amid sale rumors

Daily News photo chief Alexander Hitchen is jumping ship, marking one of the biggest departures since owner Mort Zuckerman put the money-losing tabloid on the block in late February.

He handed in his resignation on Tuesday.

“I’m going to become a news editor at Bauer Publications,” Hitchen told Media Ink. “I’ve had to make a lot of tough decisions in my career and this was one of the toughest.”

Hitchen was recruited about three years ago from the National Enquirer.

At Bauer, home of In Touch and Life & Style, he will be reunited with former Enquirer Editor David Perel, who is the editorial director of Bauer.

Meanwhile, a rumor is circulating of a new mystery suitor in addition to supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis.

For the News, the already short list of billionaires and multimillionaires interested in buying the troubled tabloid is getting shorter.

Among those not interested are: Len Blavatnik, the Russian-born billionaire behind Warner Music Group; Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who owns Israel Today; Revlon billionaire Ron Perelman, who once expressed interest in the Philadelphia Inquirer; former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was rumored to have looked at the New York Times; and lastly, New York Observer owner and real-estate scion Jared Kushner.

Jay Penske, who bought Fairchild from Condé Nast last year, was interested early on, but soured over the asking price.

Zuckerman is looking in the $150 million-to-$200 million range for the teetering tabloid, which is losing at least $20 million a year, sources said.

“There are no white knights,” said one source close to the situation. “It is going to be a long process.”

So far, the most prominent person known to be kicking the tires is Gristedes owner Catsimatidis, who was a failed GOP primary candidate for New York City mayor last year.

Insiders view him as a less-than-desirable suitor, in part because of his spotty record of paying landlords who own the buildings where his Gristedes and Red Apple supermarkets operate.

Just this week, a notice of nonpayment was tacked to the front door of a former Gristedes on the Upper West Side demanding payment of $366,890 with interest as of March 1, plus use and occupancy of “not less than” $170,257.08 a month. The landlord filing the suit is Ansonia Commercial.

In addition to Gristedes, the petition names Madison Capital Holdings. The former store location is at 2101-2115 Broadway and had been subleased to a Loehman’s, which went bankrupt.

Early last year, Madison Capital had taken over the unexpired sublease at a bankruptcy auction and had apparently been paying the landlord — but then apparently stopped in January, according to a Gristede’s official.

Madison Capital did not return a call seeking comment.