New York City TV Legend Kaity Tong Announces Retirement

She has been a legend in New York City television history for decades, but soon that will all come to an end.

PIX 11 New York's Kaity Tong Makes Big Announcement

Kaity Tong began her career in New York City at WABC in the 1980s before moving to PIX 11 in 1992. She started anchoring the station's 10 pm broadcast on weeknights before moving to their weekend shows.

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And that's a role that she's held for decades. Since the 1990s, Kaity has anchored the PIX 11 weekend news (which airs at 5 and 10 pm on both Saturday and Sunday).

Tong's final news broadcast will air on August 30, but the kind words are already pouring in across the city and industry. You can see some of them below, but first...

Why Is Kaity Tong Retiring?

Kaity Tong, who is 79 years old, told New York's Newsday that she is "tired."

So it sounds like it was just time for the decision to retire.

"I've been doing this basically all my life — 50 years altogether — and it's time to do something else, just to relax, for goodness' sake," Tong told Newsday. You can click here to read more of her comments, by the way.

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Back in 2023, she revealed she had been diagnosed with Stage 1 lung cancer. Her treatment was successful and she was declared cancer free. However, she says she'll continue to undergo yearly scans.

Accolades Pour in For TV Anchor Kaity Tong

Tong is humble and not one to call herself a legend, but she's certainly been a pioneer in the industry and the city of New York.

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“Journalist, anchor, icon, legend, friend, mentor. A few of the words that describe our beloved Kaity Tong,” PIX 11's Managing Editor Patrick Mason says. “You would be hard-pressed to find anyone in the New York City area who doesn’t immediately associate PIX11 with Kaity. A powerhouse name in an industry that can change in a New York minute.”

Tributes from her former colleagues are also pouring in, including from longtime anchor partner Marvin Scott.

“There are journalists, there are broadcasters, and then there are icons. Kaity Tong has always been an icon,” Scott told PIX 11.