Beloved News Anchor Retires After 22 Years

Good Day New York viewers will have to get used to a new face as for the first time in more than 30 years, fans will wake up to a show that doesn’t include Lori Stokes. The longtime news anchor retired on Friday, Sept. 30. She began her work with WABC/Ch. 7 in 2000, joining the Good Day team alongside Rosanna Scotto. Aside from her work on the morning news show, Stokes also has anchored the station’s 5, 6, and 10 p.m. newscasts. She’s covered some major events in the city and America, most notably the 9/11 attacks, which she was on the frontline for. The 60-year-old says a few things led to her decision to retire in a chat with The New York Post, but most importantly, it was the realization that it’s time for her to enjoy her life without work.

“I’ve been an open book my whole TV career, particularly when anchoring a morning show [where] you’re putting it out there. Everyone has known me raising my children, getting a divorce, taking care of my parents [and] seeing them through their journey to the other side,” she said. Now, she says, she’s ready to settle into that other side fully. 

“I think it’s been a combination of me being there for everyone and waking up and realizing I kind of needed to stop and take care of me. My [daughters] are 30 and 27, my parents are gone now, and I thought to myself, “I’ve worked hard, been successful and have been very blessed in this town. It’s now time to take a step back and take care of Lori,” she added.

Stokes doesn’t have any solid plans regarding what she’ll do for work, if anything. But she is looking forward to traveling. “I am going to disappear for one month on one of my favorite islands, and then I will go back to my roots in Ohio,” she gushed. 

Aside from that, she’s looking forward to some family time and personal passion projects. It’s something she hasn’t been able to do in totality due to her busy career. She admits that she learned while caring for her ailing parents that doing such things are important for the soul.

“I have a lot of projects I need to do. My dad [Louis Stokes] was a US congressman for years [representing Cleveland’s East Side] and when I was taking care of him when he was in hospice he said, “I guess I never thought I’d be in this situation because I was so busy living.” His legacy is secure — buildings named after him — and he also left a ton of memorabilia, papers and photos, at our house in Maryland,” she explained. “I’m the keeper of all this historical work of his and I have not only an obligation, but also the passion, to see that all his materials get to the right place in Cleveland. So that’s going to be a major project. I’m also on the board of trustees of the Cleveland Clinic [and several other organizations] so I want to dedicate my time to those projects. In the back of my mind, a documentary here, a book there … for the first time since I was 13, I’m not working and don’t have to be told what to do.