York, England Good news only  ยท York, England
Y’all New York Good news from the original York
Y’all New York
An independent good-news website

Ey up, world. This is York. The one that came first.

Somewhere across the Atlantic there's a city borrowing our name. We don't mind; we lent it out in 1664 and they've done alright with it. This site is about the original York: the walls, the snickelways, the coffee, the kindness, and the people quietly making this small city the best place in England. Good news only. No doom. No gloom.

Read the stories Why “Y’all New York”?
Written in York, by people who live here. Free, forever.
Fresh from the city

The latest good news

Long reads, love letters and local legends: everything positive about life inside (and just outside) the walls.

History & Heritage

How a city of 200,000 named a city of 8 million

In 1664 the English took New Amsterdam and renamed it after the Duke of York. Which means the biggest city in America carries the name of a walled market city in Yorkshire, and hardly anyone knows it. This is the full story of the York that came first.

6 min read 12 June 2026 The story behind our name
Food & Drink

A love letter to York's independent coffee shops

A city this old runs on flat whites and stubborn independence. On queues worth joining, rooms up rickety stairs, and why the chains never quite won here.

5 min read 26 June 2026
Culture

Why the Shambles still feels like magic

You've walked it a hundred times. The buildings still lean in for a gossip. On Europe's most famous medieval street and the spell it refuses to break.

5 min read 1 July 2026
Green York

Green shoots: the quiet greening of York

Bikes outnumbering cars on Lendal Bridge at rush hour, wildflowers on the Strays, a nature reserve built on an old tip. York's green story is a good one.

6 min read 3 July 2026

Why on earth is a York website called “Y'all New York”?

Because every single person from York has had the same conversation abroad. “Where are you from?” “York.” “Oh, New York?!” No. The old one. The original one. The one New York is named after. This site is our answer to that conversation: a warm Yorkshire hello to everyone who got the two mixed up, and a celebration of what's new in the York that came first.

Read the full story
What we cover

Every corner of the city, minus the misery

Six beats, one rule: if it doesn't make York feel a little brighter, it doesn't go in.

History & Heritage1,900 years of stories, told like they happened yesterday. Walks & WandersSnickelways, walls, riversides and routes worth your boots. Food & DrinkIndependents, markets, pubs older than some countries. CultureStreets, stages, festivals and the odd friendly ghost. Green YorkStrays, swans, cycle lanes and a city getting greener. CommunityThe people, kindnesses and small wins that make the city.
71 ADYear the Romans founded Eboracum
1664Year we lent our name to New Amsterdam
2 milesOf walkable medieval city walls
1White rose. Non-negotiable.