NEW YORK — City & State, the premier media organization dedicated to covering New York’s local and state politics and policy, today celebrated winning nine honors across its editorial portfolio at the 2026 New York Press Association IgNYte Spring Conference. The awards recognized City & State’s excellence in journalism and design. City & State is a part of GovExec — the industry-leading sales and marketing intelligence company for government leaders and contractors.

"These honors reflect the tireless commitment of our journalists, designers and editors to delivering coverage that is both bold and deeply relevant to New Yorkers,” said Tom Allon, publisher at City & State. “Being recognized by our peers across nine categories is a proud moment for everyone at City & State, and it inspires us to keep raising the bar. We are incredibly proud of our work and the impact we make covering the leaders and policies that shape New York."

• City & State won First Place, Magazine Design Excellence, with How New York went to the dogs and The factions of Queens spotlighted for their variety and prioritization of the audience.
• City & State also won Second Place, Overall Magazine Excellence, with New Player, New Game – Elle Bisgaard-Church, and Now everyone knows his name – Zohran Mamdani highlighted. The judges called the publication “dynamic”, with “lots of energy and nice layout.”
• Andrew Horton, City & State’s creative director, won First Place, Best Magazine Cover for The Last Word – Adrienne Adams, along with his team. Horton and Alex Law also won First Place, Graphic Illustration/Editorial Cartoon for Me, the people — an image described by the judges as “striking and attractive.”
• Sophie Krichevsky won First Place, Feature Story – Lifestyle, Human Interest or Personality Profile for her profile of New York City Council Member Vickie Paladino. Holly Pretsky won second place in that category for her profile of Elle Bisgaard-Church, Mamdani’s closest adviser and chief of staff.
• Annie McDonough won third place in two categories — Local Government Story for her piece on vacancies in government roles, and Technology Story for her piece on AI in campaigns.
• Kathleen Fu won Third Place, Graphic Illustration/Editorial Cartoon for The simplest method for becoming New York City Council speaker, with “bespoke illustrations clearly convey their meaning”, according to the judges.

This year, 150 publications submitted 2,732 total entries, which were judged by members of the Michigan Press Association.

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