Dan's Papers Wins 5 Press Club of LI Awards

The Press Club of Long Island honored Dan’s Papers with five awards for the publication’s coverage of local news, history, and the arts in the organization’s annual media awards contest.

PCLI, the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, announced the winners on its website on May 28, forgoing the usual in-person ceremony, as the group had done last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“This staff’s dedication to quality journalism makes me prouder with each passing day,” says Timothy Bolger, editor in chief of Dan’s Papers.

The honors come after Schneps Media, the parent company of Dan’s Papers, recently won a total of 49 awards in the New York Press Association’s annual Better Newspaper Contest. Dan’s Papers took home 10 prizes and four honorable mentions in that contest and two more in the Fair Media Council’s annual Folio Awards competition. 

Placing first in PCLI’s transportation reporting category was Bolger’s story “Is Change in The Air at East Hampton Airport?” about the debate over potentially closing the facility. 

David Taylor, Dan’s Papers deputy editor, won in the arts category for his story “All Eyes on Bonac Blind: Art Sparks Vandalism & Conversation” about Scott Bluedorn’s art installation that served as a commentary on the lack of affordable housing in the Hamptons.

Dan’s Papers took home prizes in the history category for “Mansions of the Gilded Age” and the neighborhood/community category for “Harvest Hope in Hard Times.” Both stories were authored by Jessica Mackin. 

Taylor K. Vecsey, editor in chief of Behind The Hedges, Dan’s Papers sister magazine that covers real estate, won in the sports category for her story in Dan’s Papers titled “Call to Retire ‘Shelter Island Indians’ at High School.”

Vecsey also earned several top prizes for her prior work at The East Hampton Star last year. She won in the breaking news category with “Not Guilty! Former East Hampton CVS Manager is Cleared on All Counts,” in the coronavirus category with “Saying Goodbye From a Safe Social Distance,” and placed first in the in-depth report/series category with “Son Gets 30 Years, Mother Speaks Out.”

In addition, Bridget LeRoy, the new managing editor of Dan’s Papers, earned several top prizes for her prior work at several other local news outlets last year.

Two of her stories in The Independent, “Eric Fischl and The Saints of Sag Harbor” and “Feeding Ourselves: Victory Gardens Return,” won in the arts and non-local news categories, respectively. And two of her episodes of “Sundays on the East End” on 88.3 WLIW-FM won in the race and diversity category: An interview with Bonnie Michelle Cannon of The Bridgehampton Center and another with LGBTQ activist, entomologist and East Hampton High School graduate Joel Melia, LeRoy’s son.