NY1 journalist Ruschell Boone, who showed tremendous courage in returning to anchor after a battle with pancreatic cancer, died Sunday evening at 48. NY1 shared the news of her passing via an internal email.
“She was a dedicated and principled journalist to the very end,” the internal memo said. “In her last week with us, she was still working on ideas for her show and sharing thoughts for making NY1 a continued beacon of truth for New Yorkers.”
The memo continued: “Ruschell recently shared that every day we spend with our loved ones is a victory…Ruschell made every moment feel victorious and every day feel special. We’re heartbroken we won’t get to have more days with her.”
Boone joined the all-news station as a reporter covering the borough of Queens in 2002 and moved to the anchor desk with a noon slot in 2021. She is survived by her two sons, Jackson, 12, and Carter, 9, and her husband, Todd.
Boone was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2021, and from June 2022 through March of this year, Boone stepped away from her responsibilities to receive chemotherapy.
In March, she returned and told devoted viewers of her noon newscast that the chemo was “so brutal,” but she was back to “feeling great.” Her first interview back on NY1 was with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who tweeted that “our city is so lucky to have @RuschellBoone back where she belongs — behind the anchor desk and holding all of us in positions of power to account.”
However, just four months after being declared cancer-free, Boone announced on social media that her battle with cancer had taken a turn for the worse.
A native of Jamaica, Boone was known for her coverage of the city’s diverse immigrant communities.
She reported on big stories like Superstorm Sandy and the protests following the death of George Floyd. Boone took home some awards over the course of her career, including a New York Press Club award for best feature reporting and a New York Emmy award for her series “New York: Unfiltered.”
