Since I got into web dev, I feel like nytimes.com has been a poster child for how not to design a website. It will be interesting to see what they've come up with when they start from scratch.
It may not follow all the various web fads the moment they pop up, but that seems quite appropriate for a site that needs to maintain a certain tone and consistency.
Although I'm excited for this new design, I think it's important to recognize the merits of the old one.