New York Online Voting Contests

Buffalo News Prep Talk Girls Athlete of the Week

Buffalo · Buffalo News / Prep Talk

The Buffalo News Prep Talk fan vote for the best female high school athletic performance of the week in Western New York. Coaches nominate by Sunday, readers vote on the Buffalo News site through Thursday at noon, and the weekly winner feeds into an annual Girls Athlete of the Year recognition.

Hudson Valley New York High School Football Player of the Week

White Plains · lohud / The Journal News

The lohud / Journal News reader fan vote for the best Hudson Valley prep football performance of the week. Nominees span Westchester and Rockland counties; the ballot opens Monday and closes Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. ET — two days faster than the statewide SI poll that some of the same schools also appear on.

lohud Boys Basketball Player of the Week

White Plains · lohud / The Journal News

The Journal News / lohud reader poll for the best Section 1 boys basketball performance of the week — Westchester and Rockland counties. Polls open Monday, close Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET, and the winner is announced on lohud sports social media. Sponsored by White Plains Hospital.

Lohud Girls Basketball Player of the Week

White Plains · lohud / The Journal News

The Journal News / lohud fan vote for the best girls basketball performance in Section 1 — Westchester and Rockland counties, New York. Sponsored by White Plains Hospital, votes are unlimited, and the ballot closes Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. ET — a mid-week hard stop unlike any of the Sunday-night SI polls.

New York High School Athlete of the Week

Statewide New York · High School on SI (Sports Illustrated / SBLive)

Weekly statewide fan poll published by High School on SI (Sports Illustrated, formerly SBLive) at si.com/high-school/new-york, recognising standout NYSPHSAA athletes across all eleven sections and all classification levels. Free to vote, no account required, closes Friday 11:59 p.m. PT each week.

New York High School Football Player of the Week

The statewide High School on SI / SBLive fan vote for the best New York prep football performance of the week. Editors choose nominees from all eleven NYSPHSAA sections and CHSFL Catholic programs; anyone can vote with no account, and the ballot closes Sunday at 11:59 p.m. — a day before the Dallas regional equivalent.

New York High School Player of the Year

Statewide New York · High School on SI (Sports Illustrated / SBLive)

Season-end annual fan-vote awards run by High School on SI (Sports Illustrated, formerly SBLive) at si.com/high-school/new-york; separate sport-specific polls — statewide football, Long Island positional awards, baseball, basketball — with no per-vote cap. Open statewide across all eleven NYSPHSAA sections plus CHSFL and CHSAA private-school conferences.

New York High School Softball Player of the Year

Statewide New York · High School on SI (Sports Illustrated / Arena Group, formerly SBLive Sports)

Annual end-of-season fan-vote awards for girls high school softball, run by High School on SI (Sports Illustrated / Arena Group, formerly SBLive) at si.com/high-school/new-york — covering all eleven NYSPHSAA sections and CHSAA statewide New York, with separate positional and class-level polls and no per-vote cap. Updated June 2026.

New York Section 1 High School Football Player of the Week

White Plains · Lohud / The Journal News

The lohud / Journal News reader vote for the top prep football performer in Westchester and Rockland counties. Editors pick nominees from Section 1 and CHSFL programs; anyone votes for free — and the ballot closes Wednesday at 3 p.m., three days earlier than most people expect.

Rochester / Section V High School Football Player of the Week

Rochester · Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Faber Builders

The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle's weekly fan vote for the best Section V football performance, presented by Faber Builders. Sports reporters pick the nominees from that weekend's games; anyone can vote — no account needed — until Wednesday at 8 p.m. Eastern, when the ballot closes and the winner is announced Thursday morning on @dandcsports.

Western New York High School Football Player of the Week

Buffalo · Buffalo News / Prep Talk

The Buffalo News Prep Talk Boys Athlete of the Week is a public fan vote at buffalonews.com, sponsored by Sgroi Financial. During fall, football nominees share the ballot with soccer and cross-country athletes. Anyone can vote with no account; the poll closes at noon Thursday — a Thursday cutoff you will not find on any other weekly regional football poll in New York.

WETM MyTwinTiers Athlete of the Week (Twin Tiers)

A TV sports desk, three counties, one poll a week: WETM-TV 18's MyTwinTiers.com ballot at mytwintiers.com/sports, presented by Simmons-Rockwell Nissan, confirmed live through the 2024 and 2025 school years.

WWNY Athlete of the Week

The weekly multi-sport Athlete of the Week fan vote from WWNY-TV 7 (Nexstar), covering high school athletes across Jefferson, St. Lawrence, and Lewis counties in New York's Watertown / North Country market, hosted on a standing page rather than a new post each week.

Best of Brooklyn

Brooklyn · Schneps Media / Brooklyn Paper

Annual Schneps Media readers-choice awards for Brooklyn businesses, with nominations, a finalist ballot, and public daily voting by email and category.

Best of Hudson Valley

Hudson Valley Magazine's annual readers-choice ballot spanning Dutchess, Ulster, Putnam, Orange, and Rockland counties, covering Food/Drink, Nightlife, Beauty/Health, Shopping, Arts/Culture, and Fun/Leisure categories through a nomination-then-final-ballot structure.

Best of Queens

Queens · Schneps Media / QNS

A Queens readers-choice awards program from Schneps Media / QNS with daily public voting across hundreds of local business categories.

Best of the Bronx

Bronx · Schneps Media / Bronx Times

Annual reader-choice awards programme run by Schneps Media through the Bronx Times, recognising the top local businesses and services across roughly 60 categories. Nominations open in January, public voting runs mid-April through late August with one vote per email per category per day, and winners are announced in mid-December.

Best of the Capital Region

The Albany Times Union runs Best of the Capital Region at timesunion.com/best, an online ballot spanning roughly 100 categories across Albany, Schenectady, Troy, and Saratoga. Vote caps and this cycle's exact close date should be confirmed on the live page, since neither is published beyond it.

Best of Twin Tiers Community's Choice Awards

The Elmira Star-Gazette, a Gannett paper, runs Best of Twin Tiers Community's Choice Awards at yourchoiceawards.com/twintiers, covering the Elmira / Southern Tier region straddling the New York-Pennsylvania line. Category detail and this cycle's close date aren't published beyond that page.

Best of Westchester

Westchester Magazine's annual reader-choice ballot, run by Moffly Media, spanning Kids/Pets, Home/Garden, Beauty/Wellness, Wedding, Shopping, and Food/Drink categories across the county, with a nomination round narrowing to finalists before public voting closes in March.

Bethpage Best of Long Island

Long Island · FourLeaf Federal Credit Union / Schneps Media

Annual Long Island readers-choice awards run by FourLeaf Federal Credit Union with Schneps Media, covering about 14 macro-categories and hundreds of subcategories after nominations and public voting.

Binghamton Community's Choice Awards

The Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, a Gannett paper, runs Binghamton Community's Choice Awards at yourchoiceawards.com/binghamton, an online ballot covering the Southern Tier. Category detail, vote caps, and this cycle's close date aren't published beyond that page.

Chronogram Magazine Readers' Choice

Chronogram Magazine's Hudson Valley and Catskills readers-choice program, built on a nomination-then-vote structure at chronogram.com/readerschoice, distinct from Hudson Valley Magazine's separate five-county ballot in the same general region.

CommunityVotes Albany

Unlike Best of Brooklyn's single-borough ballot, CommunityVotes Albany runs its own capital-region readers'-choice program, organized through a local Albany partner at albany.communityvotes.com. Four editions back it so far, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2025, and the page's own 2026 Nomination Period is open now, running August 2 through November 29. Past that window, no category roster or per-voter rule is printed yet; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

CommunityVotes New Rochelle

New Rochelle · CommunityVotes New Rochelle

Two editions, 2025 and 2026, are the entire confirmed history behind CommunityVotes New Rochelle, the CommunityVotes network's business poll for New Rochelle, New York, in Westchester County. The live 2026 page at newrochelle.communityvotes.com puts the nomination window at July 16 through November 8. Nothing else about the ballot is published; confirm it on the live site each cycle.

CommunityVotes Rochester, New York

CommunityVotes Rochester, New York is a community-voting business awards program run by a local CommunityVotes affiliate at rochesterny.communityvotes.com. Three editions are confirmed for the market, 2024, 2025 and 2026, and the current nomination stage runs July 16 through November 8. A category roster, a per-voter limit, and any separate voting-stage schedule are not published past that window; each depends on whatever the live ballot states once nominating closes.

CommunityVotes Syracuse

CommunityVotes Syracuse is Metroland Media's readers-choice business awards program for the Greater Syracuse area, run through nomination and voting rounds at syracuse.communityvotes.com rather than the parent company's general communityvotes.com site. The 2025 and 2026 cycles are both confirmed active; no vote totals, category list, or fixed calendar are published.

CommunityVotes Utica

Metroland Media's annual CommunityVotes readers-choice awards for Utica and the Mohawk Valley, run through open nomination followed by public voting at utica.communityvotes.com. The 2025 cycle is confirmed; 2026 is expected but not yet live, and no category count or vote cap is published anywhere in the record.

CommunityVotes Yonkers

Yonkers · CommunityVotes Yonkers

Westchester County's largest city gets its own CommunityVotes page: CommunityVotes Yonkers, a readers' choice business poll for Yonkers, New York, run at yonkers.communityvotes.com, where 2026 nominations opened July 16 and stay open through November 8, with two confirmed editions, 2024 and 2026, behind it. Beyond that window, the site doesn't publish a category list, and it doesn't publish a vote cap either; check the live site directly for both.

Daily Gazette Best of Greene County

Schenectady · Daily Gazette

Greene County, New York's Best of Greene County ballot runs through the Daily Gazette, the Schenectady-based newspaper. Voting happens at dailygazette.secondstreetapp.com through Second Street. 3 confirmed ballot years back the program: 2023, 2024 and 2025, with the most recent round opening December 15, 2024 and closing February 24, 2025. Past that window, exactly which award categories exist and how often a supporter may return both stay unwritten, so a Greene County business should confirm on the live ballot each cycle rather than assume.

Daily Gazette Best of the Best

Schenectady, New York's Daily Gazette runs Daily Gazette Best of the Best on dailygazette.secondstreetapp.com through the paper's own Second Street ballot. Four editions are confirmed, 2022 through 2025, the most recent nomination-and-voting window opening July 13 and closing September 15, 2025. Once that window closes, Daily Gazette's live page is what actually sets the next category list, any vote cap, or the following year's dates, confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

Daily Gazette Nurse of the Year

Schenectady · Daily Gazette

Daily Gazette's Nurse of the Year 2026 combines nomination and voting into a single ballot, run April 26 through June 1, 2026, at dailygazette.secondstreetapp.com. Daily Gazette is a Schenectady, New York newspaper, and the program is its nurse-recognition ballot for that market. Four editions are confirmed, 2019, then 2024, 2025 and 2026, with no edition published in the years between. Categories and any vote cap go unpublished; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

Daily Gazette Reader's Choice

Schenectady, New York's Daily Gazette runs Reader's Choice on dailygazette.secondstreetapp.com through its own Second Street market. Rather than a combined nominate-and-vote listing, the platform lists this promotion as a voting-only ballot. Two editions are confirmed, 2024 and 2025, the most recent window running September 13 through October 6, 2025. Past that window, Daily Gazette's live page is what actually sets the next category list, any vote cap, or the following year's dates, confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

Dan's Best of the Best: North Fork

North Fork · Dan's Hamptons Media (Dan's Papers)

Annual Dan's Papers readers-choice awards for North Fork businesses across Riverhead, Southold, and Greenport, voted separately from the South Fork ballot at dansbotb.com/north-fork-voting/.

Dan's Best of the Best: South Fork (Hamptons)

South Fork (Hamptons) · Dan's Hamptons Media (Dan's Papers)

Annual Dan's Papers readers-choice awards for South Fork / Hamptons businesses, with 400+ categories and a public summer ballot at dansbotb.com.

Mohawk Hudson Humane Society Happy Tales Beer Label Contest

Menands · Mohawk Hudson Humane Society

Mohawk Hudson Humane Society runs the Happy T'ales Beer Label Contest for shelter pets in Menands, New York, at gogophotocontest.com/mohawkhumane. Four winning pets appear on a limited-edition Best Friends Lager label from Brown's Brewing Company. Entries were due by 9:00 PM Eastern on September 2, 2026. Eight contest years are confirmed, 2018 through 2026. Beyond that, confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

NYVT Media Best of Washington County

NYVT Media, a community newspaper publisher across Washington County, New York, runs its Washington County ballot at nyvtmedia.secondstreetapp.com, presented locally by Telescope Furniture. Granville anchors the coverage area named in NYVT Media's own listing. Five confirmed editions back the ballot, 2021 through 2025, with the most recent window running November 24, 2025 through February 1, 2026, now closed. Unlike the large media-market best-of polls covering Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan, this one answers to a small county newspaper group instead. The ballot page lists no category roster and no per-supporter limit; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

Oneonta Properties of Merit

Oneonta · WDLA / CNY News

Oneonta Properties of Merit is the Future of Oneonta Foundation's recognition contest for notable properties in Oneonta, New York, with the public vote hosted at cnynews.com by WDLA, the local Central New York radio station. Archived editions of the ballot page confirm the program ran in 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026, with voting each September. Exact current-cycle dates and the category list: confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

Post-Star Readers' Choice Ballot

The Post-Star's annual Readers' Choice Ballot for Glens Falls and North Country New York, run as one combined online ballot confirmed live at poststar.com/exclusive/readerschoice/ballot-2026/ rather than separate per-business vote pages, with no public category list, vote cap, or close date published anywhere yet for the current cycle.

Reader Rankings (Rochester Business Journal)

Rochester · Rochester Business Journal

Rochester Business Journal's annual Reader Rankings, a business-to-business readers-choice program for the Greater Rochester, New York business community, with online voting May 4-29, 2026, top-3 results announced in June, and a recognition event in July.

Rochester Area Builders Parade of Homes

Rochester Area Builders runs an online people's-choice vote for its Parade of Homes at rochesterareabuilders.com/parade-of-homes/, covering the Rochester, New York metro. It is unrelated to Rochester Community's Choice Awards or Reader Rankings, two separate business ballots that share the city name but not the builders association or its home tour.

Rochester Community's Choice Awards

Rochester Democrat & Chronicle's Greater Rochester readers-choice program, run on the YourChoiceAwards platform at yourchoiceawards.com/rochester/, spanning more than 140 business categories through a nomination stage and voting rounds.

The City's Best — Best of New York City

Manhattan · Schneps Media (The Villager, Gay City News, Downtown Express)

Annual reader-choice awards for Manhattan businesses and services, run by Schneps Media through publications including The Villager, Gay City News, and Downtown Express. Nominations run January through late March, voting opens May 19 and closes August 21, with one vote per person per category per day; winners are published in a special guide.

WFRG Favorite New York State License Plate Vote

WFRG-FM's Favorite New York State License Plate vote asks listeners to pick a redesign concept at bigfrog104.com; the page's own text once framed it as New York State itself asking for help, though this guide confirms WFRG-FM, not a state agency, as the organizer. One past cycle closed voting Monday, September 2nd, at 11:59 PM. Exact dates and rules for the current cycle: confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

WKTV Boo-ti-ful Costume Contest

Eight is the number anchoring WKTV's Boo-ti-ful Costume Contest: eight confirmed fall editions, 2018 through 2025, each one hosted on wktv.secondstreetapp.com through the Second Street voting platform. WKTV, a New York television station, organizes the program directly. The most recent window opened October 6, 2025 and closed October 31, 2025; nothing dated for a 2026 edition has posted yet, and the category list, vote cap and eligibility rules stay unpublished; confirm all three on the live ballot each cycle before promising any of them to a supporter.

Buffalo CARES Animal Rescue Calendar Contest

Kenmore · Buffalo CARES Animal Rescue Calendar Contest

Buffalo CARES Animal Rescue runs the Buffalo CARES Animal Rescue Calendar Contest as a photo fundraiser for its Kenmore, New York shelter, hosted through GoGo Photo Contest at gogophotocontest.com/buffalocares. Two editions are confirmed, 2022 and 2023, with the confirmed 2022 cycle automatically ending at 8:00 PM Eastern on Friday, September 30. The rescue frames the contest as a search for 12 photos of pets to fill its fundraising calendar, and the 12 photos pulling the most votes become that cycle's winners. Neither the category list nor a voting ceiling is printed there; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

Chautauqua County Humane Society Hot Dogs Cool Cats Photo Contest

Jamestown · Chautauqua County Humane Society

Chautauqua County Humane Society runs the Hot Dogs Cool Cats Photo Contest, a playing-cards-themed pet-photo fundraiser for its Jamestown, New York shelter, hosted by GoGo Photo Contest at gogophotocontest.com/chautauquacountyhumanesociety-2016. Six confirmed edition years back it, 2014 through 2019, and the 2016 round's own page set a minimum of five votes per order before closing January 31 at 9:59:59 PM. Nothing published names a round since. The winner receives the title "CCHS 2016 Pet of the Year" plus a printed deck of 54 cards carrying their pet's name. Category rules and vote caps are unstated; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.