Chuck Scarborough, Kaity Tong and 27 more longtime local newscasters reveal their biggest moments

We know them well. We hardly know them at all. Over a quarter century on TV tends to confer such casual familiarity. 

Because we're on a first-name basis with them, say hello to Chuck, Dana, Doug and Bill, also Colleen, Lee, and Kaity. With us through the years, day by day, night by night, they've told us about traffic tie-ups on the LIE and FDR, or that low pressure system approaching from the west. There were the fires, shootings, crashes — also, the Yankees and Mets' latest triumph (or debacle), and a lot of other teams, too.

They've reported the first draft of history (Superstorm Sandy, the pandemic, 9/11) which is usually the one scored onto our memories. With tragedies, we also remember who first told us about them.

Nevertheless, we take local TV news for granted because that's exactly what we're supposed to do. Reliable and steady, this is the information soundtrack to our lives — or at least weekdays at 5, 6 and 11. Not to mention 4 and 10.

 What's perhaps surprising is just how reliable and steady so many of the local TV reporters themselves have been. This past spring, WNBC/4's Chuck Scarborough marked 50 years as an anchor in a major city — 48 of those in the most major city of them all. It's an unprecedented milestone but he's far from alone in the durability department. 

 There are well over two dozen local TV anchors and reporters who have reported continuously since the mid-90s and before. That's when the internet first arrived along with all those self-assured predictions about the death of "legacy media" like local TV news — roadkill on the information superhighway.

So much for predictions, or those ones anyway. These survivors are testament to local TV news' continued relevance and that's in no small measure due to the bonds they've forged with viewers over the decades. 

    Who are they? What was the moment that defined their career? What's the secret to their durability? Newsday reached out to all of them recently to find out. Via interviews conducted by phone or email, here are their stories in (what else?) sound bites.

THE ANCHORS

BRUCE BECK

 WNBC/4 chief sports anchor joined in 1997 after a long run at MSG Network (1982-94) and various other NY venues, including CBS Sports (where he was "voice," and much else, of Hofstra football).

MOMENTS My first Olympics in 2002, covering an unheralded 16-year-old figure skater from Great Neck who shocked the world with the performance of her lifetime, and so began a 20-year friendship with  Sarah Hughes. The most memorable stories — David Tyree's "helmet" catch, Super Bowl XLII,; the 2000 Subway Series; Michael Phelps' 8th Gold Medal (Beijing); Derek Jeter's 3000th career hit; the most magical of all: the Rangers '94 Stanley Cup when I was MSG staff broadcaster and host-reporter for the team.

HE SAYS The race to break news and be first is more feverish than ever, but I still believe in the philosophy — local teams, local themes and local stories.

SANDRA BOOKMAN 

Weekend "Eyewitness News" co-anchor,  a reporter at WABC/7 since 1998. 

MOMENT Everyone mentions Sept. 11 and for most of us it was [the biggest moment]— you could not believe how much it changed our world and how much something like that reminded you how much a part of the community you are. 

SHE SAYS I grew up in a small town in Texas, and always believed in that line about New York, if you could make it there you could make it anywhere, and then, to finally get here and to be able to stay? I do love what I do and it's been such a privilege to cover this city, whatever the story is.
 

MAURICE DUBOIS

Port Jefferson's own (Port Jefferson High class of '83), DuBois is co-anchor of the 5 and 11 p.m. newscasts at WCBS/2, which he joined in 2004 after seven years with NBC News and WNBC/4 (his first job there as anchor of "Today in New York").

MOMENTS I've had some here at Ch. 2, but the big one was at "Today in New York" — where there was intense pressure from top management, including GE chairman Jack Welch, to improve the ratings. We did, and [Welch] later told me at a company gathering that 'I was dead wrong about you.' I later found out that he wanted to fire me before the turnaround.

HE SAYS I'm a Long Island kid. It's very natural to report stories here. You just know the people. There's nothing like working in your hometown. You know how to pronounce the names, where the best pizza and bagels are. You connect on a visceral level. I've seen a lot of people come and go, and don't fit in, but for me, it's like being a hometown kid.

DOUG GEED 

Anchor, News 12, creator/host, "The East End" and record-holder (36 years) as News 12's longest-serving anchor/reporter. .

MOMENT Hard to pick only one moment, but possibly when I won my first Emmy in early 1989 — also News 12’s first Emmy, which I think sent a message to the city stations that News 12 was serious and here to stay.

HE SAYS I’m a straight-shooter, not driven by ego but by the passion I have to report on my community and the great things, the terrible things and the everyday things that affect people’s lives. While I’d love people to "like" me, what’s more important is that people trust me and what I say.

CINDY HSU

WCBS/2 weekend anchor and reporter, joined the station in 1993, with specialties in education, children, adoption and mental health awareness — notably her own, when she was the focus of a July, 2021 special on her attempted suicide, "Breaking the Stigma." 

 MOMENT In 2004 when I adopted my daughter, Rosie, from China, and went there for a special report on the adoption that would air later. I had met people afterward who had been on the fence about adoption and felt much more comfortable about it. 

SHE SAYS We don't cover ourselves. We just tell stories about other people, so I was very nervous [about the 2021 special] because there is a stigma about it. But breaking the stigma about depression was the second time that I have felt I've seen the difference I can make. Usually you do a story and you might not get that much feedback, but this one got so much feedback … from viewers and even my colleagues who started speaking about their own issues.

COLLEEN MCVEY

Anchor, senior producer, Catholic Faith Network (Uniondale-based) but best known as News 12's evening anchor for more than 30 years. She joined News 12 shortly after launch in 1986 and left in 2019. 

MOMENTS My co-anchor, Bill Zimmerman, and I started our live coverage minutes after the Avianca Flight 52 crash in Cove Neck [Jan. 25, 1990] and for the next six hours reported on the frantic rescue efforts. It was the first time I covered a disaster like that and, sadly, it would not be the last. In 2008 when I was diagnosed with an acoustic neuroma, which is a rare brain tumor. I lost 100% of my hearing in my right ear which stopped me from doing live reports at loud events like campaign headquarters on Election night and also made on-set interviews very difficult. But I adapted and learned to deal with it.

SHE SAYS I really just loved my job, my News12 family/friends and our viewers who always treated me like a friend … I was blessed. 

ODALYS MOLINA

Anchor, "Noticiero 47 Telemundo Primera Edición," "Noticiero 47 Telemundo Al Mediodía," who joined WNJU/47 in 1991.

MOMENTS Covering the devastation of Superstorm Sandy with our wall-to-wall coverage; an investigative story on the dangers of radon; our station’s first GLAAD award for a series of reports on the LGBTQ community.

SHE SAYS Although the role of storyteller remains the same, we now have so many ways of telling those important stories and a much broader audience and different outlets. However, we do have to be wary of misinformation, which is, in my personal view, the enemy of democracy and freedom of speech.

BILL RITTER 

Ch. 7 anchor for top-rated 5, 6 and 11 newscasts, joined ABC News in 1992, as founding co-host of "GMA/Sunday." He succeeded Bill Beutel on the 11 p.m. weeknight broadcast in 1999.

MOMENTS It was 9/11. It was the kind of story that seared us — and bonded us to viewers and vice versa. I was not sure what I wanted to do [before] but after 9/11 there was not a shred of doubt in my mind — that I was here for the duration and that this is the place where I belong. After that, there wasn't any doubt what I was going to do when I grew up. More recently, before getting sick with COVID and anchoring from home, I told my fellow homebound viewers that as a pledge of solidarity, I'm not gonna get my hair cut until this crisis is over. [He finally did, for charity]. Local television really rose up during the crisis — no one can deny that. TV kept the information flame alive for people. 

HE SAYS The prediction back in the '90s was that local news wouldn't last [but] but people still watch us because it is so incredibly personal, and local. The bond between us and the viewers is so personal … I do believe in local TV news, wholeheartedly. My own future? It's hard to say but I'll be here for a while, hopefully, as long as I keep my head and stay healthy. [Laughs] I'm not sure I want to work as hard.

ROSANNA SCOTTO 

Co-host, "Good Day, New York," and an anchor/reporter for WNYW/5 since 1986 — before that, WABC/7 anchor, reporter (and host of a show that would eventually morph into "Live!").

MOMENTS 9/11 was an emotional story for me — a native New Yorker, to see this happening to my city — but the breakout was the Woody Allen/Mia Farrow trial; we were the station given the tape of Dylan Farrow describing what she said her father did to her [and] it made international news. And this was a time [the early '90s] when Allen was Mr. New York and no one could say anything bad about him.

SHE SAYS It's being curious and still being curious — and willing to adapt and change. When social media came into play, I was like, 'oh great! Something else I have to do.' But I did embrace it and now do a daily Instagram show; we started it during the pandemic [because] everyone was in lockdown and this was a way to keep everyone calm and  find a reason to smile. I'm going to keep doing ['GDNY'] until I feel like I can't do it anymore.

LORI STOKES

Anchor, 5, 6 and 10 p.m. editions, WNYW/5, which she joined in 2017 after a 17-year run at WABC/7, and before that NBC News and MSNBC — which she helped launch in 1996 — where she was the network's first Black anchor. 

MOMENT Really, it was at MSNBC, where I had the freedom to tell breaking stories in away I'd never know would be possible — to ad-lib and keep it going on the air.

SHE SAYS New York is always going to be a place where everyone has an opinion on everything, but there's always going to be an audience and the need for an anchor or reporter to tell them how to break it down, and how it really is. I think we are valued. You always want to have a few of the old-school reporters and anchors because once again, in a time of crisis in the city, when something really blows up, you want those dinosaurs sitting there because that's the person viewers know and trust.

JOE TORRES 

Brooklyn-born Torres — who joined Ch. 7 in 1996 as a street reporter — is weekend co-anchor for the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. editions of "Eyewitness News," and host of Sunday morning public affairs show, "Tiempo." 

MOMENTS Nine Eleven was certainly a category of its own, but set that aside, and the most memorable stories for me were numerous trips to Rome and the Vatican to cover either the death of a pope or the election of a new one.

HE SAYS I'm thankful for what I'm doing and where I'm doing it. I also make a concerted effort to remember when telling the story of the tragic death of a 15-or-16-year-old, that for family members it might be the first time they are going to be on TV. Those are always challenging stories but for me they are always personal, and that it's my duty to lift up this person, to tell this story. 

KAITY TONG

Onetime Ph.D. candidate (Chinese and Japanese literature from Stanford) who instead became a radio reporter and TV anchor in California, then joined WABC/7 in 1980 as its hugely popular 5, 6 and 11 p.m. co-anchor. Since 1992, she's been an anchor (now weekends) at WPIX/11. 

MOMENTS I actually did specials, not day to day reporting, and [Ch. 7] put out these crazy [promotion] posters with me half-in, half-out of a manhole, with this giant rat superimposed on the Empire State Building in the background. [Laughs] The first special was on the rat problem. But the breakthrough moment was when I was asked to play myself in Robin Williams' "Moscow on the Hudson." I'd been at Ch. 7 for two and a half years.

SHE SAYS Don't take yourself too seriously. Always have a sense of humor. Be able to look at things with the perspective of humor, and a sense of humor about yourself. I take my work seriously but I don't take myself seriously. 

DANA TYLER

WCBS/2 6 p.m. anchor, joined the station in 1990 as weekend co-anchor and reporter.

MOMENTS Subway firebombing ('96); New York City blackout and City Hall shooting ('03); Flight 1549 landing on the Hudson ('09) (Emmy winners each) and "of course 9/11."

SHE SAYS The secret to my longevity? Part of it is luck, picking your battles, lying low under the radar — the last two in combination — and control only that which you can control. I also love doing local news, and love that I get to do it everyday, and have follow up the next. If I'm bad one day, I always want to be better than the next. I feel so fortunate that I can do that. I also do feel that a big responsibility of mine is to be calm, or to try to be calm. I can't tell someone [a viewer] that 'it's going to be OK,' but I just try to remain calm and believe that we're going to get through this. That's the spirit of New York. I'm not one of those "here's closure" types. You cannot do that here. The other thing is to just be myself. I'm not trying to be an anchor trying to do the news. I'm just Dana — oh my goodness, I'm about to use one of those words [laughs] — being my "authentic" self. 

THE REPORTERS

LYNDA BAQUERO

Ch. 4 consumer reporter ("Better Get Baquero"), host of "News 4 Latino" (formerly "Visiones"), also co-anchor of various news programs at one time or another, who joined in 1995, after runs at Ch. 2 and New York 1.

MOMENTS Advocating for viewers on my "Better Get Baquero" and my weekly segments for "News 4 Latino." Sitting alongside the venerable Chuck Scarborough to anchor the 6 was certainly a breakthrough, but also Cuba and Jerusalem, and the '96 and '02 Olympics, in Atlanta and Salt Lake City, respectively. 

SHE SAYS The pandemic forced us to pivot and think differently about how we can gather and present information. And because many of us transmitted from home or areas close to our homes, I think it’s allowed us to connect with audiences in a way we couldn’t before. 

N. J. BURKETT 

WABC/7 reporter on both local (TWA Flight 800, Sandy Hook, police misconduct) and international (Iraq, Israel, Gaza) stories since 1989. (His coverage of 9/11 is now iconic.) Burkett was also Ch. 7's Long Island reporter for six years.

MOMENTS My tenure on Long Island was bookended by the Avianca crash and Flight 800 [July 17, 1996] although I continued on that all the way through the end of the investigation. But the [Joey] Buttafuoco story was so relentless that I thought at some point that I was never going to be free of him and that if I died, my tombstone would read, "Here Lies N.J. Burkett. He covered Buttafuoco." But the biggest story would be 9/11. I've had people from the U.K. stop me on the street in Times Square and say, "aren't you the guy from 9/11? Can I hug you?" [Burkett and his cameraman, Marty Glembotzky were reporting from just beneath the south tower when it collapsed.] 

HE SAYS My secret is lots of coffee, keeping a perspective and trying as hard as you can to maintain your own humility and humanity.

GREG CERGOL

Ch. 4's Melville-based Long Island reporter who joined in 1999 after nearly ten years at News 12. 

MOMENTS I define my career not with "breakthrough moments," but with the breakthrough people — the LI teacher battling ALS who boards a scooter to begin “A Ride for Life”; or an Army officer and single mom who turn to neighbors to care for her kids as she goes off to war; or a kid on a surfboard rescuing neighbors from burning homes surrounded by floodwaters; or a grandfather stepping in to raise four grandkids after their dads are killed at the World Trade Center.

HE SAYS My time at News 4 has been defined by 9/11, Superstorm Sandy and the pandemic — they've enlightened my life and reporting. 

CAROLYN GUSOFF 

Among the longest-serving LI TV reporters, she joined News 12 shortly after launch, in 1987, then Ch. 4 (1993-'08), Ch. 5 ('09) and Ch. 2 in 2012. 

MOMENTS Stories In the late 80s and early 90s: the Buttafuocos, Walter Hudson, the Pet Cemetery scandal. I was knee-deep in all of them. But Avianca, Flight 800, defined my early career. It also left a mark on my heart, my life. Then there was the kidnapping of Katie Beers who later chose me to co-author her memoir "Buried Memories: Her Story." The story has become deeply personal to me. My biggest accomplishment? A special about the shockingly low graduation rates in the Hempstead school district.

SHE SAYS I've had breast cancer twice but nothing was harder than a 2008 [Ch. 4] layoff. The real secret to longevity in this career is good old -fashioned persistence, consistency, and humility. There is no room for a big ego in the very unglamorous life of a New York TV reporter.

MAGEE HICKEY

WPIX/11 reporter who first started at WNYW/5 in 1983 and has since worked at every TV station in New York, three of them twice (yes, believed to be a record). Other than Ch. 11, her longest tenure was at Ch. 4 (1985-'95.)

MOMENTS A 1990-91 series on EMS drivers who had arrived late to the scene of emergencies, resulting in fatalities; EMS was later absorbed into the FDNY as a result of  those stories. That was the turning point for me where I thought, wow, you can help people and make a difference.

SHE SAYS The underlying theme for me is, with age comes wisdom. I'm a better reporter at this advanced age. I enjoy work more than ever because I'm not trying to get somewhere. What a wonderful thing to discover that you've found the right career for your personality and work ethic.

MARCIA KRAMER 

WCBS/2 chief political correspondent who arrived here in 1990 after a run as City Hall Bureau Chief at the New York Daily News, which had gone on strike; Kramer famously extracted that "did not inhale" gaffe out of then-candidate Bill Clinton during a 1992 debate.

MOMENTS Obviously you're gonna say Bill Clinton, but the stories that have meant a lot to me have been the ones where you help people — notably a two-year campaign to get safe bunker gear for members of the FDNY in the early '90s. 

SHE SAYS The challenge of writing for TV is to be able to be like a tabloid writer for TV [and that's] why I'm able to get away with so much stuff. But in my heart, I'm still a print reporter. I don't think of myself as a TV reporter. I still approach the beat as a newspaper one.

MARY MURPHY

One of the "deans" of New York TV street reporters began her long run at WCBS/2 (1981), then WPIX (1982-86), and back to Ch. 2 (1986-95.) She's been an anchor and investigative reporter at Ch. 11 since '95. 

MOMENTS A three-part series on AIDS in early '83 for PIX, then for Ch. 2, coverage of the Joel Steinberg trial in 1988 and the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993. At PIX, I spent a year covering the aftermath of 9/11. The one story that has always stayed with me was the assassination of 22-year-old rookie cop Edward Byrne by a crack gang. The highlight of my career at PIX was reporting live from Vatican City when Pope Francis was elected in 2013. For a Catholic girl from Queens, it was the thrill of a lifetime

SHE SAYS The arrival of the internet and social media have hugely impacted how TV reporters do their jobs but my career was built on street reporting — law enforcement, and how policing was impacted by the crack cocaine epidemic, terrorism, and organized crime.

JENNIFER MCLOGAN

Ch. 2's Long Island reporter since 1993, before that NBC News' Northeast correspondent, is based in her hometown Garden City.

MOMENT The LIRR shooting in 1993 was my first major story.

SHE SAYS I love being connected to the communities on Long Island because people trust us and offer stories and give us clues and hints and scoops. I also love the geography of LI, from Elmont out to Montauk. I know what every single town and village looks like and have been to all of them. People care about what happens in their own backyards. That's why local news is maintaining its viewership. Nevertheless, the job is changing a lot with the divisiveness. We try to remain in the middle and respect both sides. We also focus on the many wonderful things that happen out here. I wake up happy and wake up thinking, who am I going to meet today or what kind of issue am I going to learn about?

STACEY SAGER 

Dix Hills native who joined WABC/7 in 1996 as a general assignment reporter then — in 1999 and 2011 — produced extensive reports on her own battle with cancer. 

MOMENTS I shared my journey through breast cancer with our viewers in a 2-part story in 1999, to reveal how a mammogram saved my life. Then, 12 years later, I followed with another story after I got genetic tested for the BRCA mutation, and learned I had an early stage ovarian cancer. But the story I can't get out of my head was 9/11, and the family members of those who perished who were still searching for their loved ones.

SHE SAYS I would hope our viewers understand that our job to be unbiased, but our job is also to be human. And so yes, I think of my own kids when covering a mass shooting at a school, or think of my own family when I cover the latest COVID variants. We reporters are you. We have families, we have struggles, and we have questions too.

LINDA SCHMIDT 

WNYW/5 investigations/consumer reporter since 1993.

 MOMENT None specifically but my goal from the age of 12 was to be here in New York as a journalist, so when I first got here it was more about consistency — building contacts, learning quickly, and being accurate. It took many years to build up those contacts.

SHE SAYS We take our responsibility very seriously but the key to this job is curiosity and I am an extraordinarily curious person. Beyond that, I love what I do, and love being face to face with people and really cherishing that interaction. 

MARVIN SCOTT 

Veteran of veterans, Scott started at WNEW/5 (now WNYW) in 1970, later worked for CNN, Mutual Broadcasting and Ch. 7, then joined WPIX/11 in 1980, as anchor, reporter and host (of the weekly, now defunct," PIX11 News Close-up").

MOMENTS I've reported more than 15,000 stories over the course of my career but the reports on Stephanie Collado [in 1998], a 12-year-old who got a heart transplant. She passed away ten years ago. I was so proud of her. My proudest achievement — the five Christmas specials I did with the local troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

HE SAYS I enjoy telling stories and having had the impact I've had on people's lives over the years. I've got another coming up — about a man who needed a kidney, and he finally found a donor, which was the result of the report I did. We can do positive things, and bring about change. 

SARAH WALLACE

Investigative reporter for Ch. 4 since 2015, but three decades before that she was at WABC/7, which she sued over gender discrimination after the station dropped her.

MOMENTS For any reporter in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, that was a singular transcendent event for all of us. Then, there was the Howard Beach trial (1987), and Joel Steinberg, convicted of manslaughter in 1989 in the death of his illegally adopted daughter. I was the only reporter to interview Steinberg in prison — my most intense interview I ever had. I never believed he was innocent, as he said, but there are many wrongful conviction claims that are legitimate. I am passionate about those cases. [Meanwhile], my fellow photojournalist, Dave Hiller, and I, covered COVID stories every day in the field for the better part of a year, as well as the George Floyd protests.

SHE SAYS I’m passionate about telling people’s stories, especially those who buck the system to report discrimination and retaliation.

THE WEATHER GUYS

IRV GIKOFSKY

Ch. 11 weather forecaster — "Mr. G" — who first joined Ch. 2 in 1977 (after a stint as science teacher at Albert Einstein Intermediate School in the Bronx) and Ch. 11 in 1993. 

MOMENTS  When I was at Ch. 2, [sports anchor] Warner Wolf created a "Mr. G was at the Game '' in 1982 and had masks made and given out [at baseball games]. He'd say 'Mr. G was at the game,' then cut to 200 people waving masks of my face. I've still got one. Also, the "It's a G Thing" stories for PIX11 — uplifting ones that air Fridays and Sundays. They're stories about all kinds of people — like a hospital janitor who wins a humanitarian award or cancer patients dancing after chemotherapy. I'm a big believer in them. 

HE SAYS Like a baseball player, you swing and you swing, and you keep doing what you do. The score may not go your way — the forecast could be right or wrong — but in this business, [viewers] learn your idiosyncrasies, your humanity. Then they like you, and if you're a real New Yorker, they'll really like you. And I'm a New Yorker through and through. I also still run about 45 miles a week. And I nap — anytime I feel a wave coming on, I'll take a 15 or 20-minute one. 

LEE GOLDBERG

Chief meteorologist, "Eyewitness News," who joined Ch. 7 in 1996 after brief runs in Syracuse and Boston.

MOMENTS Superstorm Sandy which I had a feeling the night before would be the worst natural disaster in the state's history. I also had an important mentor — Harvey Leonard, who was chief meteorologist of Boston's WCVB/5, and retired in May after a 50-year career. That's who I've modeled my career after.

HE SAYS Weather has been a lifetime passion, ever since my dad put a weather station on our roof, and when I got the opportunity to come to New York I understood my good fortune to join this station. But viewers have so many sources of weather information, especially with the advent of the supercharged weather era we're now in, notably climate change. Through all that, we've remained a trusted conduit because they still want to hear that voice, and to hear your thoughts. But I do need to stay relevant because when they want information, I need to be able to give it to them.
 

NICK GREGORY

WNYW/5 meteorologist since 1986, and before that morning weather forecaster for startup CNN. There's also the unusual side-gig — as seasoned pilot, and FAA Designated Flight Examiner.

MOMENTS I've always been a storm-lover — I know that sounds weird — and always loved snowstorms, a couple in particular when I first started working at Ch. 5 after years of doing the national weather at CNN — the superstorm of 1993, and the blizzard of '96.

HE SAYS It's a delivery that I think — hopefully — generates credibility and likability. As you do it over time, you always develop relationships with viewers and become part of the family because they see you every night. So it's about being yourself. You can't try to be anybody else.

AND 7 MORE

Pat Battle, Weekend co-anchor, "Today in New York," and New Jersey reporter, Ch. 4, which she joined in 1996, after a, three-and-a-half year run at Ch. 2

 Jonathan Dienst, WNBC/4 lead investigations reporter, who joined in 2001, before that, Ch. 11 ('96-01), and New York 1, which he joined at launch in '92. 

Jim Dolan, general assignment reporter, "Eyewitness News," since 1986. 

Max Gomez, Ch. 2 medical reporter, formerly health/science editor for Ch. 4 (1997-07) and before that, Ch. 2 (1994-97.)

Janice Huff, chief meteorologist, Ch. 4, which she joined in 1995. 

David Ushery, Ch. 4 anchor for the 4 p.m. and 11 p.m. broadcasts, who joined the station in 2003 after a decade as a reporter/anchor at Ch. 7. 

Lucy Yang, general assignment reporter, "Eyewitness News," since 1993.