Managing editor Jeanmarie Evelly elevated as Jarrett Murphy prepares to depart.

City Limits on Friday announced that Jeanmarie Evelly, a member of the staff since 2018, will be the next editorial leader of the award-winning nonprofit newsroom, which is celebrating its 45th anniversary this year.

Evelly’s promotion to Executive Editor, effective Feb. 15, was announced by Mark Edmiston, chair of the City Limits board of trustees, and Marjorie Martay, the executive director.

A veteran of DNAinfo and Norwood News, Evelly is currently City Limits’ managing editor and was previously deputy editor. She has operated and expanded the City Limits Accountability Reporting Initiative for Youth (CLARIFY) paid youth training program while reporting on transit, politics, COVID, and other topics. She won Clarion Awards in 2019 and 2020 for her transit coverage.

Evelly replaces Jarrett Murphy, who has been City Limits’ editorial leader since 2010 and with the organization since 2007. Murphy will become Editor at Large covering the 2021 city campaign until he departs City Limits in May to attend nursing school. After his departure, he will remain a part of City Limits as Contributing Editor.

“Jarrett has provided the people of New York with comprehensive coverage and clear insight into the most pressing issues facing our city for more than ten years. His record of outstanding journalism is the equal of any while also leading a successful transition from print to electronic media,” says Board Chair Mark Edmiston. “In Jeanmarie we are fortunate that we have within our own organization a successor whose record and commitment to high quality journalism gives us the confidence that she will lead City Limits to even higher levels of success.”

“I’ve been so impressed with Jeanmarie’s leadership skills, wisdom and vision that she is absolutely the right person to lead our editorial team forward,” Martay said. 

“City Limits has been the job of a lifetime. I’m deeply grateful to the sources, readers, writers, photographers, editors, donors and funders who made it possible for us to do so much good work,” Murphy said. “I could not be prouder to hand the red pen to Jeanmarie. I can’t wait to watch her take our newsroom to the next level.”

“I’m thrilled to be continuing my work with City Limits, and am so grateful for the opportunity to lead our newsroom as we start this new and exciting chapter,” Evelly said. “I am particularly thankful to my hardworking colleagues, and to Jarrett, who has been a wonderful editor and mentor these last few years.”

City Limits uses investigative journalism through the prism of New York City to identify urban problems, examine their causes, explore solutions, and equip communities to take action. Founded in 1976 in the midst of New York’s fiscal crisis, City Limits exists to inform democracy and empower citizens to create a more just city. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded by foundation support, ad sponsorship and donations from readers.

With a staff of eight, City Limits provides in-depth coverage of housing, the COVID-19 crises, climate resiliency, aging, politics and more; operates a youth training program; co-hosts a weekly radio show; and operates the Voices of New York project and Una Ciudad Sin Limites, a Spanish-language reporting program.