NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams today awarded the Key to the City of New York to 60-year veteran journalist Marvin Scott — a New York State Broadcasters Hall of Famer, 14-time Emmy award winner, and recent Governors Award winner — in recognition of his lifelong impact on the city he continues to serve. Scott is a Bronx native that has been a cornerstone of New York broadcast news for more than five decades. Since joining WPIX in 1980, he has served as anchor, reporter, host, producer, and senior correspondent.
“Today, we honor a man whose voice has echoed across the five boroughs and around the globe for generations. Marvin Scott is a giant of news and journalism,” said Mayor Adams. “For six decades, Marvin has shone a light on what is happening in our streets, across our nation, and around the globe, and he has done it with courage, integrity, and a dedication to the truth. For his lasting impact on journalism, news, and public service, it is my honor to present the Key to New York City to a New York legend.”
“To receive the Key to the City of New York, which has been my work home and my greatest story for six decades, is an extraordinary honor,” said veteran journalist Marvin Scott. “I feel privileged to have been able to tell New York's story through the voices of the people. My gratitude to Mayor Adams for this honor.”
A seasoned reporter of local, national, and international news, Scott has covered major stories from the front lines of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Cambodia, to the Civil Rights movement with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He has interviewed six U.S. presidents, as well as global figures, including Israeli Prime Ministers Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat, and has chronicled every New York City mayor since John Lindsay. His work has earned more than 40 Emmy nominations and numerous professional honors, including recognition from the Associated Press, the American Bar Association, and the New Jersey Working Press Association.
Before WPIX, Scott held reporting and anchoring roles at WNEW-TV, CNN, Mutual Broadcasting System, and WABC-TV, and contributed to the New York Herald Tribune and Parade Magazine. A New York native who sold his first news photo at age 14, he has also reported extensively on the U.S. space program, authored the book “As I Saw It: A Reporter’s Intrepid Journey,” and exhibited his photography at different New York galleries.
Scott’s contributions to journalism and public service have been recognized with the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, inductions into the Silver and Gold Circles of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Bronx Walk of Fame, and the Bronx Jewish Hall of Fame.
The Key to the City of New York was first awarded in 1702 by New York City Mayor Phillip French, when he offered "Freedom of the City" to Viscount Edward Cornbury, governor of New York and New Jersey. By the mid-1800s, it became customary to award the Key to the City of New York as a direct symbol of the city's wish that a guest feel free to come and go at will. Today, the Key to the City of New York is a beloved symbol of civic recognition and gratitude reserved for individuals whose service to the public and the common good rises to the highest level of achievement.
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