Editor’s note: City & State wins five awards at the New York Press Association Better Newspaper Contest

We are excited to announce that City & State won five awards and received an honorable mention at the 2024 New York Press Association Better Newspaper Contest. All were awarded at the organization’s annual spring conference in Saratoga Springs this past weekend. The contest had 142 news organizations submit 2,530 entries. All were judged by the Tennessee Press Association. Before we ask you to help celebrate these well-deserved wins, here's a breakdown of the honors we brought back, including comments from the judges for the entries and stories submitted.

• First Place, Best News Website, City & State Editorial, Digital and Design teams – “The City & State website has a clean design with an obvious and well-constructed hierarchy. It loads quickly and is easy to navigate.”
• First Place, Best Newsletter, Jeff Coltin for Campaign Confidential – “This is an incredible read, especially for those obsessed with city and state politics. It is even interesting for people not living in New York due to incredible sourcing and storytelling, factoids and tidbits, and insider exclusive feel. It’s an excellent example of doing a great journalism in an intimate and conversational way to consumers who eagerly await in their inboxes.”
• Second Place, Coverage of Crime, Police, Courts, Division 1, Rebecca C. Lewis and Peter Sterne for their coverage of Hector LaSalle’s contentious chief judge nomination and the politics that led to it getting shot down.
  • NY Democrats reject Hector LaSalle
  • Can Kathy Hochul really sue the NY Senate over Hector LaSalle?
  • Failed LaSalle nomination leaves Hochul’s relationship with labor in a state of confusion
  • The inside story of the fight against Hector LaSalle
  • ‘There’s total paralysis.’ With NY’s chief judge vacancy, courts are stagnant
• Second Place, Coverage of the Environment, Peter Sterne for his coverage of the crypto currency industry and the impacts – “Very unique reporting.”
  • Is crypto dead in New York?
  • The uncertain fate of upstate’s most controversial bitcoin mining site
  • Putting a pause on crypto in New York
  • Assembly Member Anna Kelles testified about the environmental impact of crypto-mining. Then her Twitter account was hacked.
• Second Place, Historical, Anniversary, or Progress Editions, Jeff Coltin and Shantel Destra for their reporting on the legacy of former Rep. Shirley Chisholm – “This was well done from the powerful and eye-catching cover image to the comprehensive content.”
  • https://online.fliphtml5.com/ldkst/mcjj/
• Honorable Mention, Best Personality Profile, Annie McDonough – “This profile of Justin Brannan deftly wove together his political and personal lives and how his background in punk music set him on this unlikely career path as a New York City Council member. My favorite line was this summation: ‘Brannan raged against the machine, and then he became the machine.’”

On behalf of myself, the other editors and Publisher Tom Allon, please join us in congratulating our winners and celebrating another fine showing in this competitive contest. City & State continues to lead with the best journalism and political news coverage in New York.