Last year, Jamie Lynn Macchia was 2nd runner up to Miss New York and accepted the title of Miss New York’s Sweetheart. She traveled to Hoopston, Illinois to compete with her Sweetheart Sisters in a national pageant, similar to Miss America.

New York had made history as the only state to win Miss America three-consecutive years, but that wasn’t our only historic feat. Jamie Lynn came home as 1st Runner Up- the highest a New York Sweetheart had ever placed. She later announced that the pageant’s life stream statistics were able to determine that more viewers were from New York than any other state.

This year, Jamie Lynn has won the title of Miss New York 2015, and will compete in Atlantic City. We have come to expect big things from our New York representatives.

Just today, Nina Zesky, Miss Heart of New York, announced that she has accepted the title of New York’s Sweetheart and will be representing the Empire State at the National Sweetheart pageant. Like Jamie, Nina was 2nd runner up at the Miss New York pageant, coincidentally with the same 1st runner up turning down the initial offer.

Nina will be joined by State Finalists from across the nation for the opportunity to be crowned Miss National sweetheart. Although this is not officially affiliated with Miss America, the pageant follows the same categories and scoring procedure. Many Sweetheart representatives go on to claim their state title (as seen with Jamie Lynn and Allie Curtis, Rhode Island’s 2014 Sweetheart), and some have even gone on to with the Miss America crown. This year has also made history in a national way, as a record breaking number of 2014 Sweethearts have won their 2015 state titles. Last year, only 4 Sweethearts competed at Miss America. The state season is only half complete thus far, and there are already over a dozen Sweethearts with state titles.

The pageant will be held in August; we can’t wait to see how Nina will do. New York has certainly set the standards high, and we have every reason to believe Nina will continue to show America that an Empire State of Mind is the secret to success.