“The Black Depression,” City Limits’ May 2010 investigation of the causes and consequences of record-high black male joblessness after the 2007-2009 recession, on Monday won the New York City Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Deadline Award for minority focus.

The other finalists in the category were WNYC’s Ailsa Chang and The New York Times’ Deborah Sontag. Reporter Jarrett Murphy, photographer Colin Lenton and designer Anthony Smyrski were named as honorees.

“A Risky Play?”, the September 2010 magazine story that probed the ramifications of the city’s decision to install artificial turf in hundreds of parks, was a finalist in the public interest category, along with Ralph Blumenthal of Marie Claire, Joshua Kors of The Nation and Alan Schwarz of The New York Times. Schwarz won for his series of stories on growing concerns about concussions in professional sports.

“A Risky Play” (Patrick Arden, author, and Adi Talwar, photographer) has already been honored by the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the New York Community Media Association and the U.S. Society of Professional Journalists.