He has bought and sold many publications and is considered an expert in launching and growing digital and events-driven local media outlets.
Allon started his career as an educator, teaching English and Journalism at his alma mater, Stuyvesant High School.
Allon was born in New York City, on May 21, 1962, and raised in a Jewish family[4] on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
In 2020, Allon sold City & State to Government Executive, a media, data and insights company based in Washington, D.C.
After raising more than $700,000 from prominent New York City philanthropists, real estate firms and tech companies, Allon hired former NY1 journalist Grace Rauh to be executive director of 5Boro.
Allon’s co-founder, long-time esteemed civic leader Dick Ravitch, passed away in June 2023.
[10] While Allon "made a strong impression at a series of candidate forums," his candidacy failed to gain traction, and "his polling numbers mired in the low single digits.
[12] Allon later became a frequent pundit and columnist in local media on important public policy matters.
Allon married Rebecca Cohen in 2020 in a Zoom wedding ceremony at their second home on Long Island, in the midst of the covid pandemic.
In March 2022, Mayor Eric Adams and Chancellor David Banks appointed Allon to the public education policy panel (PEP).