City & State’s 10 most clicked on stories of 2019

City & State’s most clicked-on stories this year ranged from explainers to campaign analysis and everything between.
Articles that unpacked housing, criminal justice, tech, labor and immigration policies were of high interest to our readers this year. And our coverage of several congressional campaigns on both the right and left also held a significant amount of curiosity. While these may be just the sort of articles you’d expect to attract City & State readers, it’s likely you’ll be fairly surprised by which story generated the most interest – and clicks – among our readers this year. We’ll give you a hint: It’s related to the 2020 presidential election.

And for the sake of transparency, we’ll admit that our highest performing posts this year were actually our comprehensive rundowns of local New York elections and our endorsement trackers. However, we decided to omit those posts from this roundup since they’re not the most, shall we say, stimulating.

Here are City & State’s 10 most clicked on posts of the year:

10. The House challengers everybody’s going to be talking about

These six progressive congressional challengers are hoping for anotherOcasio-Cortesian victory. 

9. Airbnb’s New York City legal battles

City & State broke down the conflicts pertaining to Airbnb’s data sharing – and why New York City wants to collect its data – and the legal battles its facing.

8. What do the new rent regulations mean, literally?

After a series of rent reforms passed last session, City & State compiled a glossary of key terms to give renters a better understanding of what these new regulations mean. Literally.

7. Inspired by AOC, democratic socialist takes on Meeks

Shaniyat Chowdhury, a twenty-something, democratic socialist bartender – remind you of anyone? – is taking on Rep. Gregory Meeks, in the hopes of ousting the moderate Democrat. 

6. Who’s leading in the NYC public advocate race?

By now, we all know who won New York City’s public advocate race. But before we had a clear sense of who would win, we turned to experts for their opinion on who was leading the race. The clear winner, even then, was Jumaane Williams.

5. Meet the Republicans running against Ocasio-Cortez

Despite the odds being stacked heavily against them, these seven Republican candidates feel confident that they can unseat one of Congress’ most famous members: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. 

4. Trump’s mob connections

Is it any surprise that this mouthy Queens boy – that’s right, we’re talking about President Donald Trump – has a lot of mobster connections? Probably not. 

3. Which New Yorkers don’t get a $15 minimum wage?

Even though New York has boasted that it’s the first state to set the highest minimum wage at $15 per hour, there are exceptions to the rule. We explained which workers aren’t guaranteed a minimum wage salary from their employers and why.

2. How driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants would work

A controversial piece of legislation – which has since been signed into law – will provide driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants. This is how it will work.

1. Marianne Williamson’s philosophy is a New York phenomenon

Presidential hopeful Marianne Williamson gained national attention this year for her flower child ethos. Her ideology was first formed on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where she discovered the book “A Course in Miracles.” However, fans of Williamson should be mindful that, much like our current president, the presidential candidate made a “fortune selling snake oil,” wrote journalist Lindsay Beyerstein.