NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Vickie Allen, one of the people who makes WCBS Newsradio 880 a 24/7 news machine, announced her retirement this week.
Allen left her role as WCBS 880’s evening and overnight anchor after 33-year run at the news station. Her final broadcast was Thursday night.
Allen tells fellow anchor Wayne Cabot that she never intended to work in New York City, but once she was offered an interview and a test run, she fell in love with the city and stayed – quickly becoming a staple piece at the station.
“I thought, ‘oh, I'll go and talk to them.’ But, you know, I just didn't see that I would someday be working here,” Allen said.
On the day she interviewed for the position, she was sent out to cover a story at City Hall.
“I look up and Mario Cuomo and David Dinkins were walking down City Hall steps and I just went up to them and I had my 880 gear and I started interviewing them and they talked to me and it was great,” Allen said. “I called and said, ‘I've got this story.’ And they said, ‘oh, bring it back to the station.’ So I get there. And Harvey (Nagler) says, ‘How did you get them to talk to you?’ And I said, ‘They just did.’”
From there, it was an instant click with New York and with WCBS 880.
“I was just looking around and I could honestly feel the beat of the city. And I was hooked,” Allen said.
Before she was an anchor, Allen spent time on the streets covering the day-to-day of New York City as a reporter – which she said was a great experience, despite the uncertain hours.
“It was great, what an experience. You see everything and anything and talk to all kinds of people,” she said.
One of her favorite parts about working in local news, however, wasn’t the stories she covered, but the people she covered them with.
Allen says New York City journalism is close-knit and she can remember covering many events with similar faces.
After 30 years, she spoke with Cabot on her final day in the office, which she described as “surreal.”
“It really is, because what a journey it's been decades we're talking about and so many, you know, friendships along the way. And it's just been great, Wayne. And I'm just kind of thinking, ‘I'm going to savor it and enjoy it,’” she said.
In her retirement she says she looks forward to spending time with her husband and hitting the water on their boat.
And for those who are tasked with working the overnight hours as she has for many years, she says: “You just kind of get used to being constantly tired.”