Tributes planned for Sue Simmons' final day

One of New York TV's legendary anchor runs ends Friday, as Sue Simmons wraps 32 years at WNBC/4.

In a statement Thursday, the station said, "Sue has been a part of many memorable moments in New York history, and we're going to look back at some of those and her contributions to them." On-air tributes are scheduled on "Today in New York" (4:30-7 a.m.) and the noon, 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. newscasts. They will culminate during the 11 p.m. newscast, which will include what WNBC is describing as a "special look back at Sue's career." The station announced in March that Simmons' contract, which expires Friday, would not be renewed.

Since she came to the station in 1980, Simmons, 69, has been paired with Chuck Scarborough, and was the looser and more approachable half of the team. Their remarkable longevity in the nation's biggest city made them the most famous anchor team in the country.

In recent years, Simmons had been anchor of the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts, but after returning from back surgery early in 2011, she retained only the later newscast.

WNBC said Friday's tributes would feature clips, interviews with former co-anchors, and Simmons' own recollections of her many years here, after joining from Washington's WRC-TV in 1980. Of course, many of those recollections will come from Scarborough, who joined Ch. 4 in 1974, from Boston's WBZ-TV. (Scarborough, 68, signed a new multiyear contract in March.)