It was a battle of the titans at the National Magazine Awards Thursday night, pitting Adam Moss, in his final contest at the helm of New York magazine, against David Remnick of The New Yorker, the once and future champion.

Heading into this year’s contest Moss had won 40 Ellies in his 15-year tenure, while Remnick took home 44 trophies over the course of 20 years at the helm.

In the final showdown, it was Remnick by a technical knockout, with the judges from the American Society of Magazine Editors awarding him four new Ellies.

Moss, 61, added only one more Golden Elephant, as the statues are also known, for leisure interests for the story “How To Be an Artist” by Jerry Saltz, boosting Moss’ career total to 41. He was also inducted into the Magazine Editors Hall of Fame in a moving tribute.

Remnick’s haul means that The New Yorker has won 48 times since he took the helm in 1998.

ASME judges snubbed the two biggest magazine giants. Although they had a handful of nominations, no mags from Hearst or Meredith made it to the winners circle.

The awards ceremony was moderated by CNN’s John Avlon, a former chief editor of the Daily Beast, and was held at the East Williamsburg music venue Brooklyn Steel, marking the first time in the 54-year history of the prestigious honors that they were held outside Manhattan.

The highlight of the night was the standing ovation that was given to Moss upon his induction into the Magazine Editors Hall of Fame.

“Reporting, writing, photography and design, the 67 magazines and Web sites we honored tonight do it all,” said ASME CEO Sid Holt.

“But what made the occasion especially significant — and especially touching for many readers and journalists who have been influenced by his work — was the presentation of ASME’s Hall of Fame Award to one of the most thoughtful and innovative editors of our time, Adam Moss,” Holt said.

A humbled Moss quipped, “Thirty-five years of work reduced to a 150-second video.

“This organization has been very good to me for a long time. The first time I stood on an Ellie stage, Dan Quayle was still vice president of the United States, they were still making episodes of ‘Golden Girls.’
“And the event was at the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan.

“I really am ancient. I really want to express my gratitude to you for all the kindness you have shown me over the years,” Moss said.

“But here’s the thing. Every bit of the work you saw on the screen was done by somebody — editors, photographers, writers,” he added. “An editor’s job is really to trick other people to do all the work. I am really a grateful and lucky guy,” Moss said, before he thanked Pam Wasserstein — New York Media CEO — for “letting me be a part of a great family business.”

Only two magazines won more than one Ellie this year.

Topic won two awards in the video category, one for service and lifestyle and the other for news and opinion. Also, the New York Times Magazine took home two, including one for digital innovation and another for essays and criticism.

ASME judges also handed out general excellence Ellies in four categories.

In the highly competitive news, sports and entertainment category, National Geographic won its eighth Ellie, besting The Marshall Project, New York, Time and Wired.

T: The New York Times Style Magazine won general excellence in the service and lifestyle category for the second year in a row.

The other two general excellence awards went to upstart titles: Kazoo, which won for special interests, and to Virginia Quarterly, which won its second general excellence in the literature, science and politics category.

Bill Keller, a one-time top editor at the New York Times, said in November he is stepping down from his latest gig atop the not-for-profit The Marshall Project, but was in Brooklyn to accept the award for best Web site in the news and opinion category. Keller said he will stay on until a replacement is found.

Popular Science won best single topic issue for one entitled “The Tiny Issue,” while personal service was taken by 5280 magazine in something of an upset with “The Art of Dying Well,” beating out Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Outside and Women’s Health.

In other awards, Wired won for design and photography.

GQ Style won for service and lifestyle.

Roads & Kingdoms, the travel journalist Web site, was honored for service and lifestyle, although nobody was present to accept. Master of Ceremonies Avlon said he would accept the Ellie on behalf of the late Anthony Bourdain, who was a co-founder.

Bon Appetit won for Social Media.

W Magazine, which is still being shopped around by Condé Nast, took home an Ellie for photography.

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