Liverpool, New York — the one-square-mile village of about 2,600 people just outside Syracuse — has been named Reader's Digest's Nicest Place in America for 2026, adding to the magazine’s nearly decade-long contest awarding communities defined by generosity and neighborly care.
The magazine's editorial team narrowed reader nominations with help from a panel that included TV Today co-anchor Craig Melvin, author Mitch Albom, podcast host Mónica Guzmán, StoryCorps CEO Sandra Clark, and Molly Irani of Chai Pani Restaurant Group, last year's winning nominee from Asheville, North Carolina.
Liverpool's reputation for service dates back more than two decades. Operation Northern Comfort, a nonprofit founded in 2005 by the late Norm "Mr. Liverpool" Andrzejewski, began as a Hurricane Katrina relief effort and has since shifted its focus to building wheelchair ramps and lifts for area residents with accessibility needs. CEO Laurel Flanagan told Reader’s Digest the organization completed 57 such projects in 2025 alone.
"People think there's a government agency or something that you can call, but there isn't," Flanagan state in the article.
Individual acts of kindness run just as deep. Ralph Rotella, a Liverpool cobbler and Italian immigrant who owns Discount Shoe Repair in downtown Syracuse, has spent more than a decade collecting and repairing donated shoes for the Syracuse Rescue Mission. Since starting the drive in 2011, Rotella has given away more than 300,000 pairs.
"I reached my goal, but I'm still going to do it no matter what," Rotella shared with the magazine. "As long as my hands work and I can walk and dance, we'll do it."
Others interviewed for the contest were St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, the Rev. Bruce Gowe who recalled how the community rallied around a woman who was struggling to find housing. Simone McCarthy shared how her neighbor Raiss Muya and his daughters helped replace her fence after a blizzard destroyed it.
Liverpool Mayor Stacy Finney pointed out that it’s normal routine for local residents who often don't realize how unusual their hometown is.
"I do think there's a spirit of volunteerism in Liverpool," Finney said. "Because people love the area they live in, they want to enhance it."
