By Anna Gustafson
TimesLedger Newspapers reporters’ coverage of a variety of issues, from Willets Point to congestion pricing, won the group six awards from the New York Press Association, a trade organization for weekly and small daily papers in the state.
There were 182 newspapers that submitted 2,944 entries in this year’s contest. Participating newspapers competed for awards in 60 categories. A total of 436 awards were presented at NYPA’s spring convention this weekend.
TimesLedger swept the in−depth reporting category and captured first place for both spot news and news series.
Stephen Stirling won top honors for in−depth reporting for his coverage of Willets Point, a 62−acre industrial area across from the new Citi Field that houses about 250 businesses and is slated for a major redevelopment project approved by the City Council in November.
NYPA judges praised Stirling’s work, saying he provided “consistent, thorough content and superb source development.”
Ivan Pereira won second place for in−depth reporting for his series of 35 articles on a case in which a Forest Hills woman hired her uncle to shoot and kill her estranged husband in front of their young daughter.
NYPA judges called the work something that “readers will certainly get caught up in” and went on to cite “good quotes, sidebars, writing (that) is continually fresh with concise recaps.”
Jeremy Walsh landed third place for in−depth reporting for his coverage of Vantage Properties, a company that owns about 80 apartment buildings in the borough and that residents accuse of harassing and attempting to evict rent−stabilized residents.
Judges said Walsh “does a great job chronicling the sale of housing units and the impact on those whose living quarters were put in limbo.”
Stirling won another first−place prize in the spot news category for his series on the Fairmont Hall gas explosion in Flushing, which killed a Flushing man, severely injured his 2−year−old daughter and displaced several residents on Sanford Avenue in July.
Judges pointed out that his coverage was “crisp, methodical, fair−minded reporting of gas explosion.” They praised the accompanying photos and sidebar.
Walsh and the rest of the TimesLedger reporting staff received first place in the best news or feature series category for their year−long project on congestion pricing, a proposal that would have made vehicles traveling into Manhattan’s business district pay a fee.
Judges called the news series a “well−researched presentation of the state of things after the failure of the congestion pricing plan.”
They added: “The scope of the project, thorough research and presentation set this work above other entries in a very competitive category.”
TimesLedger Newspapers, a subsidiary of News Corp., publishes 14 weekly newspapers covering different neighborhoods in Queens.
Reach reporter Anna Gustafson by e−mail at agustafson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 174.
