Taking honors in an impressive array of prestigious categories, Downtown’s award-winning paper, The Village Sun, won seven awards in the New York Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest for content from 2024.
The awards, which were judged by members of the Missouri Press Association, were handed out at NYPA’s annual spring conference in Saratoga, N.Y., on March 20 and 21.
The Village Sun won two first-place awards, a second-place and four third-place awards.
Lincoln Anderson, the newspaper’s editor in chief, took home first place for Editorials. His entry included an editorial against “The City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” rezoning plan (“Just say No to COYHO”), criticizing it as a giveaway to developers, plus two editorials on congestion pricing (“For whom CP tolls” and “‘Pause’ applause”), arguing that the first-of-its-kind tolling plan in the nation needed an environmental impact study, or E.I.S., and that traffic displacement and economic hardship for residents and businesses “in the zone” had to be thoroughly studied before launching the program.
The judge for this category wrote in his or her comments: “This is what an editorial is. Takes a stand and explains why it takes a stand.”
Q. Sakamaki won first place for Spot News photos for The Village Sun for his coverage of a march in May by pro-Palestinian protesters intent on demonstrating outside the Met Gala but who were headed off by police.
The judge for this category wrote, “This gallery shows a quickly evolving scene with many characters. There are action photos and sense-of-place images, so we have a full understanding of the people and the scene. There are some well-composed, yet complicated compositions with good layers and motion. The contrast between the ‘bus rider’ and the ‘Central Park’ images shows visual diversity.”
Lincoln Anderson and Roberta Schine won second place for Coverage of Elections / Politics. The entry featured four articles by Anderson, including several on the District 2 City Council race, plus a wide-ranging interview with Mayor Adams on everything from the East Village migrant crisis and the Washington Square hard-drugs scene to concern over wild-riding e-bikers and the status of the bogged-down plan to close Rikers Island. Schine’s article covered Puerto Rican activist Ana Irma Rivera Lassén’s run for an at-large, nonvoting seat in U.S. Congress.
“This set of excellent stories shows tremendous amounts of work and a great depth of knowledge of the issues and personalities,” the judge for this category wrote. “The interview with Mayor Eric Adams was especially good reading, with context and depth.”
Anderson and reporter Phyllis Eckhaus won third place for Coverage of Local Government, a bread-and-butter category for community newspapers. Their entry included Anderson’s aforementioned interview with Adams, plus an article by him featuring advocates for and against congestion pricing, and another on the city and state’s belated crackdown on illegal pot shops, plus an article by Eckhaus on the fight to stop the closure of Beth Israel Hospital.
“Great local content! Excellent information for readers,” the judge for this entry effused.
Eckhaus and Anderson also won third place for Coverage of Health, Health Care & Science for their reporting on the battle to save Beth Israel Hospital. Eckhaus’s three articles included a report on convincing accusations that Mt. Sinai Health System actually “sabotaged” Beth Israel Hospital after acquiring it, plus an article on Mt. Sinai health executives “fearing for their safety” after activist attorney Arthur Schwartz warned in a prior article in The Village Sun that he would have them “locked up” for contempt of court.
“Newspaper is offering thorough coverage on some key health issues in the area,” the judge for this entry wrote. “Great overall coverage.”
In an esteemed category, veteran East Village journalist Bonnie Rosenstock won third place for Best Distinguished Coverage of Diversity for her in-depth reporting on the East Village / Loisaida Puerto Rican community. Her five articles included a terrific profile of Loisaida record collector and raconteur Jose Pepe Flores and his La Sala de Pepe on Avenue C, a feature article on Angie Hernandez’s Borinquen-themed “Gift of the Magi” play, sadly a subsequent obituary on Angie Hernandez, 77, and two articles on the ongoing saga of the former CHARAS/El Bohio, the old P.S. 64, including an investigative report on where efforts to redevelop the vacant building stood after it was finally wrested early last year from developer Gregg Singer, who had owned it for more than 25 years, by a mysterious “philanthropic entity.”
Impressed, the judge for this category wrote, “As an editor, I know how nice it is to have a reporter OWN a beat, as this reporter does.”
Milo Hess won third place for Spot News Photos for his coverage of the jubilation – and also some consternation – outside the courts in Lower Manhattan after presidential candidate Donald Trump in May was convicted of falsifying business records to hide a raunchy romp with porn star Stormy Daniels nearly two decades ago.
“There’s an artful study of signs and faces showing the mix of emotions and conflicting views of those at the event,” the judge for this entry said. “Beyond the signs are a detail of the ground and some interaction. Good variety from a fluid scene.
The “detail on the ground” likely referred to Hess’s photo of a Trump hater angrily stomping on a red MAGA cap.
The Village Sun racked up a total of 70 points in editorial categories, good enough to finish sixth in New York State.
The top five papers in editorial points, in descending order, were Albany’s Times Union, East Hampton Press, Highlands Current, Sag Harbor Express and amNY Metro. The Times Union garnered the coveted Stuart Dorman Award for Editorial Excellence for most editorial points.
For Editorials and Coverage of Local Government, The Village Sun competed in the smallest circulation divisions, but all its other wins came in “open,” non-divisional categories, meaning it was potentially going up against papers with far larger circulations and staffs.
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