The impending resignation of Chuck Scarborough this week leaves an open position on the 6 p.m. news on WNBC-TV.

Scarborough, 81, announced last month that he was leaving hosting duties on Thursday (December 12) after more than 50 years.

Now News 4 New York has named the anchor to take his place.

David Ushery, another New York radio staple, joins the 6 p.m. newscast.

He will co-host with Bergen County native Natalie Pasquarella. She already co-anchors the 4 p.m. and 11 p.m. shows with Ushery, who has been with the news station for more than 20 years.

Scarborough casually dropped the news on Monday’s show after Ushery introduced a segment paying tribute to the outgoing host.

“It has been the privilege of a lifetime to share a desk with you, a great honor,” Pasquarella said.

“Well, the feeling is mutual,” Scarborough said. “And I leave you in very good hands here with David. David takes over at 6 years old. You know, David is a triple threat, one to watch: great writer, great reporter and fantastic anchor, so you’re in very good hands.”

Ushery, 57, said there were jokes behind the scenes about the transition.

“There was a lot of dark humor about me measuring the curtains in Chuck’s office, moving some furniture in, and offering to drive him away on the last day…none of that is true,” he said. “Chuck, let me say this. You and I both walked into a newsroom today that was completely focused on two important topics. Apparently the arrest in connection with the murder of the CEO and the verdict in the subway chokehold (trial). So our colleagues support this moment, but they were busy in the newsroom and Chuck and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Chuck Scarborough entered this building today the same way he entered it 50 years ago,” Ushery said. “And that means being curious about the story, concerned about the tone of the story, concerned about the facts in the story, concerned about the storytelling… and that means leaving the responsibility to me and to all of us to continue to do that.” .”

Ushery grew up in Bloomfield, Connecticut and is a graduate of the University of Connecticut.

He began working in broadcast journalism at WFSB-TV in Hartford, but has been a television anchor for much longer.

When Ushery was just 11 years old, he became the host of the Connecticut-area show “Kidsworld,” where he interviewed broadcasting legend Walter Cronkite. It was a gig that Ushery performed until he was 18 years old.

Ushery joined WABC-TV as a reporter and became an anchor. He spent a decade there before moving to WNBC in 2003.

“At a time when the media industry is evolving almost daily, our responsibility as local journalists will never change: to check the facts, ask tough questions and deliver the news clearly, honestly and transparently to the trust of our viewers,” Ushery said in a statement Monday. “That’s exactly what we do at WNBC, and for more than 20 years, I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the best journalists in our industry here at 30 Rock. I look forward to continuing this important mission every weekday at 6 p.m. with my colleagues and friends Natalie Pasquarella, Janice Huff and Bruce Beck.”

He remained in the NBC 4 news studio during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and accepted the 2021 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for the station’s coverage of the health crisis.

Ushery received two National Edward R. Murrow Awards for his coverage of Hurricane Sandy and coverage of the Jersey City Kosher Market shooting in December 2019. He also received a National Emmy for his work on “Sandy.”

In 2019, he profiled 9/11 responder Michael Dorian, who was diagnosed with cancer and had to fight for his health benefits. The story won a New York Emmy.

Ushery’s work at NBC took him across the country and the globe, including to Gaza, Jerusalem, the West Bank, France, England and Italy. Ushery has also moderated mayoral and gubernatorial debates.

After the murder of George Floyd, he examined relations between police and communities of color. Other major news events he has covered include the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012 and the “Miracle on the Hudson” landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in 2009.