Our Town Wins Awards for Exposing Gaps in Pedestrian-Bike Injury Reporting
Our Town’s story on e-bike collisions, and New York City’s scarce reporting on injuries, earned multiple awards at the New York Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest.
| 27 Apr 2026 | 12:29
E-Bikes going through red light at Broadway and W. 25th St. in the Flat Iron district. ( Photo: Keith J. Kelly)
Our Town’s reporting on New York City’s lacking reporting on injuries between bikes and pedestrians earned two awards from the New York Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest.
Awards were presented durig the NYPA Spring Conference last week. The series was awarded first place in the “Crime/Police/Courts” category, and second place in the highly-competitive “News or Feature Series” category.
Reporters Michael Oreskes, Gail Gregg and Garrett Owen, and Editor in Chief Keith J. Kelly all contributed to the award-winning series.
Contest judges said the reporting is a “solid series explaining the dangers of e-bikes and the lack of reporting on injuries.”
The articles interviewed various Manhattanites who were struck by e-bikes and pedal bikes alike, and revealed how many serious injuries go unreported due to a change in NYPD requirements adopted in 2020; the department no longer takes reports unless a victim dies or suffers a grave injury such as the loss of a limb.
Added contest judges: “Good reporting on a national problem localized to the city.”