News Corp. Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch yesterday confirmed that The Wall Street Journal will launch a New York City section next month, raising the stakes in the Journal’s long-running battle with The New York Times.

Speaking at a Real Estate Board of New York luncheon, Murdoch said the new section, for which the paper is hiring reporters and editors, would fill a vacuum that he suggested had been created by the Times’ focus beyond the city.

“We believe that in its pursuit of journalism prizes and a national reputation, a certain other New York daily has essentially stopped covering the city the way it once did,” Murdoch said in his remarks to an audience of real estate professionals.

“In so doing, they have mistakenly overlooked the most fascinating city in the world — and left the interests and concerns of people like you far behind them.

“I promise you this: The Wall Street Journal will not make that mistake.”

While the chairman of News Corp., which also owns The Post, declined to provide details on the city edition, he did say it would be “full color — and it will be feisty. It will cover everything that makes New York great: state politics, local politics, business, culture and sports. Oh yes — and real estate.”

The Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, said the section would appear six days a week as the second section in copies sold in the metro area. About 35 journalists are to be hired, the paper said.

The expansion underscores a belief that it’s not technology harming the value of newspapers. “The truth is just the opposite: Technology is putting a premium on content,” he said.

“Technology has not reduced the demand for information. But it has given customers more tools to get what they want — and avoid what they don’t want,” Murdoch said.

He said newspapers can meet this challenge by taking advantage of what has always made a newspaper great: its bond with readers and subscribers.