Newsday wins 58 Press Club of Long Island awards

Newsday on Thursday night won 58 Press Club of Long Island awards in the organization’s 2016 competition.

The awards were presented at an annual dinner at Woodbury Country Club.

Newsday’s five-day 2015 series on “zombie houses” — thousands of abandoned homes in foreclosure limbo that become eyesores and community dangers — previously received the Robert W. Greene Public Service Award.

The organization also has inducted into its Hall of Fame former Newsday associate editor and Pulitzer Prize winner Les Payne.

Newsday and newsday.com staff won 30 first-place awards, including for education reporting about Long Island students opting out of Common Core tests by Saba Ali, Matthew Cassella, Erin Geismar, T.C. McCarthy, Beth Holland and Joie Tyrrell; for an in-depth sports feature story about football helmet safety by Jim Baumbach; and for the video “Gabriel’s World” by Alejandra Villa, about a boy who is allergic to nearly all foods.

In addition, News 12 Long Island had seven first-place awards.

The competition recognized work across various platforms, including student journalists.

Newsday won 80 awards in the 2015 competition. Newsday and News 12 are owned by Cablevision.