Personality

The top New York tweets of 2022

Reports of Twitter’s death may have been exaggerated, but reports about these quality tweets certainly weren’t.

New York politics happens 24/7 on our favorite bird app. Here were the best tweets of the year.

New York politics happens 24/7 on our favorite bird app. Here were the best tweets of the year. We Are, Flickr

By Eric Holmberg

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In March, New York City Mayor Eric Adams compared himself to broccoli, saying, “You’re going to hate me now, but you’re going to love me later.” In each edition of First Read Tonight, after you get through the main course of New York news and the veggie sides of national politics and in-depth reporting, there’s a dessert waiting at the end called Top Tweet. It might include a funny take or a snarky quote to lighten the end of your day. Here are some of the highlights from the past year in New York political Twitter.

Top Tweeters

Last year, reporters Katie Honan and Gloria Pazmino tied for Tweeter of the Year, but this time around there was a runaway winner. This was the City & State equivalent of Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points in a game, or Barry Bonds hitting 73 home runs in a season. Gothamist and WNYC reporter Jon Campbell was featured a staggering 14 times as the Top Tweet. His omnipresence covering both New York City and state politics as well as his unofficial #WhereIsUpstate leadership meant that this year, it was Jon Campbell’s world, and we’re just tweeting in it.

1. Jon Campbell, Reporter, Gothamist and WNYC – 14

2. Katie Honan, Reporter, The City – 9

3. Zack Fink, Albany Reporter, NY1 – 8

T4. Bill Mahoney, Reporter, Politico New York – 7

T4. Chris Sommerfeldt, Reporter, Daily News – 7

T4. Clayton Guse, Transit Reporter, Daily News – 7

Going viral

It’s rare for City & State to feature one of our own tweets, but City Hall Bureau Chief Jeff Coltin threw the mayor for a loop by wearing a Brooklyn Dodgers hat to City Hall. The former Brooklyn borough president may not be the biggest baseball historian, it turns out. The tweet got about 2,300 retweets and quote tweets as well as more than 24,000 likes.

Best series

Since attorney Adam White was arrested by the NYPD for criminal mischief in mid-November after fixing an obscured license plate, Streetsblog NYC Editor-in-Chief Gersh Kuntzman has posted funny videos of himself fixing license plates with leaves taped on them, scratched out license plates and identifying phony parking placards. The series’ theme song is even on Spotify!

Back to back

For the first time in Top Tweet history, a tweet was featured two days in a row. This gem from Miranda Goodwin-Raab independently caught the eyes of our newsletter compilers. And because those days were Thursday and Friday, this tweet wore the crown of Top Tweet for four consecutive days – a record that will likely never be broken.

Love for NY1

When you find your people, you just know. And there was a niche genre of tweets this year celebrating NY1 and the priorities of its viewers. Liam Stack and Brad Weekes pointed out the little joys of watching our local community hub.

Redistricting broke us

Between draft maps, a special master, Steuben County becoming the center of New York politics, court cases and two primaries, redistricting completely wrecked us this summer. Burton Phillips wasn’t the only one who started seeing district lines everywhere they went.

In hell

After Elon Musk bought Twitter, everyone joked they were going to miss this hellscape website if it all ended tomorrow. But so far, the website is still working, and it’s just traveling through Penn Station that reminded the governor of fire and brimstone.

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