Joyce Purnick is an American columnist and journalist.^[1]

Purnick was born on May 17, 1946, in New York City,^[1] the daughter of Charlotte Leah and Jacob "Jack" Purnick.^[2][3] In 1967, she graduated with a B.A. from Barnard College.^[1]

In 1970, she started her career as a news clerk with the New York Post eventually rising to chief political writer.^[1] In 1979, she accepted a position at The New York Times focusing on New York state, New York City government, and the New York City school system.^[1] In 1989, she served on the paper's editorial board as the paper's urban affairs analyst.^[1] In 1994, she wrote the twice weekly Metro Matters column covering local New York topics.^[1] In 1997, she was named deputy editor of the Metro department, the paper's largest section and the first woman to do so.^[1] In 1999, she returned to writing Metro Matters.^[1]

• 1996-97 Mike Berger Award from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
• 1996 George Polk Award for metropolitan reporting for an exposé on the neglect of abused children by the city's welfare system
• 1987 Peter Kihss Award for reporting on city government from the Fund for the City of New York
• 1979 Front Page Award from the Newswomen's Club of New York for political columns in New York magazine
• 1975 from the Newspaper Guild and the Newswomen's Club of New York for feature writing at the New York Post

• Mike Bloomberg: Money, Power, Politics (2009)

Purnick is married to writer and former New York Times executive editor, Max Frankel.^[1][2] She lives in Manhattan.^[1]