GREATEST HITS

City & State has shed light on both the good and bad, placing a focus on ensuring that New Yorkers are aware of policy decisions and the information necessary to hold their representatives accountable. Also, City & State has managed to provide necessary levity at times, finding a way to use humor and insight on the personalities of individuals in government as a vehicle to deliver the message of its importance. Further, I applaud the intentional organizational changes made by City & State in relation to diversity in its newsroom and having a greater dedication to ensuring all perspectives are heard.

The history of City & State

How two newspapers became a magazine.

By Zach Williams

Mike Bloomberg was New York City mayor when we launched, and he became an avid reader.

NEW YORK POLITICS was a lot different 15 years ago. Michael Bloomberg still called the shots at New York City Hall. Westchester County Legislator Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Andrew Cuomo were making moves to win their first elected posts in Albany. This was an era when baby boomers and their older counterparts were at the height of their powers. It might sound quaint now, but digital-print hybrid magazines with drip like City & State mostly existed in the minds of editorially inclined futurists back then.

It might sound incomprehensible to us now, but there were no smartphones back then. You couldn’t even tweet, so most people would watch television, read newspapers or surf the information superhighway for favorite news outlets like the New York Sun. Elected officials, lobbyists and political junkies who now regularly consume dozens of news articles per day could only read so much via their primitive dial-up internet connections. Luckily for them, a scrappy publication called City Hall debuted in 2006 to provide these readers with their political fix.

Success did not come purely from the sheer awesomeness of this monthly publication printed in tabloid form – though the artistic moxie of those early issues presaged many more lampooned politicians to come. One example is the November 2007 cover showing “Guru” Bloomberg teaching other mayors how to leverage their personal fortunes and moderate politics for political advantage. Then there was the clairvoyance of the reporting. “He can only change so much,” notes a July 2008 story about the mayoral aspirations of then-Rep. Anthony Weiner, whose political dreams would later im-

plode because of his inability to stop sending lewd images via the evolving medium of text messaging. That high-quality journalism caused then-President and CEO Tom Allon, a longtime Manhattan newspaperman who is now City & State’s publisher, to debut a publication in 2008 to meet the needs of people in the capital city of Albany. He named it: The Capitol.

The next three years were a time of great challenges for both New York City and state, and the two publications that covered them. City Hall focused on downstate narratives like the beginning of the end for the old boys’ network in Brooklyn and the fact that former Public Advocate Mark Green reportedly did not “care that you hate him” as he lost his third race in a row in 2009. The Capitol meanwhile focused on how controversial figures like Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino, who would become the 2010 Republican gubernatorial nominee, were driving the GOP to the right just as Cuomo was getting ready to begin what would become a long reign as governor. The only problem with these two publications was that they were not doing it together.

The late aughts and early 2010s were tumultuous times for journalism. Traditional ad revenue streams were going away because of the internet. Newspapers and magazines across the country were joining together to survive. City Hall and The Capitol would merge in 2011 to become City & State. The authoritative First Read newsletter launched later that year while this figurative juggernaut of journalistic might began experimenting with video, creating City & State TV, and podcasting with The Slant Podcast. There was even a little virtual reality going on at its sister publication New York Nonprofit Media – acquired in 2014 – and then some fiscal setbacks triggered layoffs and the shuttering of City & State Pennsylvania, which was established in 2016. It was back to basics for the New York magazine as it faced an uncertain future.

It turned out that witty writing, shoe-leather reporting and great artwork were enough to get the company through some challenging times. (Some great salespeople and a hardworking events team surely helped as well, but who is telling the story here anyway?) Reporting by devoted staffers chronicled the ups, downs and suspect claims of politicians as well as a whole lot of funny business in each week’s Winners & Losers feature. More editorial staffers have since been hired. The Pennsylvania magazine is back. While podcasting and other digital bells and whistles might return in the future, City & State is as devoted as ever to helping the old-fashioned ways of American journalism adapt to the 21st century. “It’s kind of back to a classic news organization,” Allon said in an interview as the 15th anniversary of City & State approached. “There’s a website. There’re newsletters. There’s a magazine – and none of this highfalutin fancy stuff.”

A print publication that says what the hell is going on was not much of an innovation 15 years ago, but they are decreasing in supply, as truth-telling itself comes under fire. Luckily, City & State is still here. You’re welcome. ■

JUNE 2006

City Hall established as a monthly newspaper focused on local politics.

August 2006 edition

AUGUST 2008

Cover story examines whether Chuck Schumer has peaked in the U.S. Senate.

NOVEMBER 2010

Andrew Cuomo gets elected governor, and we all know what followed …

JULY 2011

The first edition of First Read reaches inboxes across the Empire State.

MARCH 2014

City & State publishes an indepth investigation into the Cuomo administration’s interference with the Moreland Commission.

NOVEMBER 2007

The Capitol, launches online and biweekly in print.

AUGUST 2009

City Hall publishes a lengthy exposé on whether the Working Families Party violated campaign finance rules.

AUGUST 2010

Profile of gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino highlights GOP shift to fringe right politics.

DECEMBER 2011

The first print edition of City & State comes out after City Hall and The Capitol get combined.

Congratulations on 15 years of service. Your First Read is my 7 a.m. alarm and has the benefit of not having a snooze button. Several years ago, your Queens Power 100 listed me at No. 15 and my son at No. 16. Evan said the order had his blessing. It may be the first time a Jewish mother was put ahead of her son. – state Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky

JANUARY 2015

The first of many power lists is released.

HOW NY CAMPAIGNS TARGET YOU WITH FACEBOOK WHY YOU STILL CAN’T RUN AS AN ATHEIST IN NYC

#HIM TOO

CITYANDSTATENY.COM @CITYANDSTATENY May 14, 2018

ALBANY’S LAST-MINUTE TO-DO LIST

there's something

in theYou don’t want to know. And neither does NYC.

water

CITYANDSTATENY.COM @CITYANDSTATENY May 28, 2018

NOVEMBER 2016

Queens man shocks world. Gets elected president.

MAY 2018

The fall of state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman demonstrates for the umpteenth time how seismic shifts in New York politics happen unexpectedly.

APRIL 2019

Investigative series on contaminated rooftop water towers spurs action by the New York City Council.

EVER A PLANFORTHIS? T H E RE S W A WHYCOVID-19ISBATTERINGNEWYORK

HEARTOF THE STORM

WHOBLEWIT? WAIT, WASTHATTHEENDOFSESSION?

WHY TH E R I C H A R E SURVIVING

CITYANDSTATENY.COM @CITYANDSTATENY April 13, 2020

MARCH 2020 MARCH 2021

COVID-19 strikes. Print distribution screwed up for months. City & State names an advisory board to promote diversity in its coverage.

SEPTEMBER 2014

New York Nonprofit Media is bought.

APRIL 2016

City & State Pennsylvania established

JANUARY 2017

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio put on notice that the wrath of Cuomo is imminent.

JUNE 2018

A tough business climate leads to layo s and the temporary end of City & State Pennsylvania.

JANUARY 2021

The Washington, D.C.-based Government Executive Media Group buys City & State after spinning o from Atlantic Media.

JUNE 2021

City & State Pennsylvania revives its print edition.