CRUSH: In 1980, Sue had a picture of Alec Baldwin pinned up in her office; and (right) with Chuck.
Sue Simmons signs off from Ch. 4 tonight after 32 years — a departure that’s been so low-key you’d think station officials were trying to hide the biggest goodbye of a local icon in years.
Ch. 4 has been strangely silent about Simmons since The Post’s Cindy Adams broke the story of her departure in early March.
“Endings like this are never easy,” says one industry insider. “There’s nothing harder than letting go when you’re at the top rung of the ladder.”
Simmons, 69, who joined the station in 1980 — the year Susan Lucci lost the Daytime Emmy for the first time — has anchored Ch. 4’s 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts with fellow station vet Chuck Scarborough for years (and anchored the station’s iconic “Live at Five” interview show back in the day).
But after removing Simmons from the 6 p.m. newscast last January, Ch. 4 then declined to renew her multi-million dollar contract when it expires this month.
Station officials wouldn’t even confirm that Simmons was leaving after Adams’ story broke, but Sue’s impending departure made headlines around the country.
Once Ch. 4 officials admitted they’d sent Simmons packing, the station never formally recognized the situation — until announcing, just yesterday, that there will be a day-long tribute to Simmons on her final day today.
They’ve also steadfastly refused to confirm who will replace the local icon once she’s gone.
(The front-runner is Ch. 4’s afternoon anchor, Shiba Russell, who joined the station in February 2011.)
Reporters who called the station this week, asking who will team with Scarborough, were told that “this is Sue’s week” and that the station wouldn’t comment any further.
“If it ends up being Shiba Russell, then they’d decided Sue was done before they ever hired Shiba, who’s not like someone who’s been there for a long time or who got prettier or smarter,” says an insider. “The assumption is that [Ch. 4] is trying to shelter the new person . . . They don’t want that person being blamed for Sue leaving.”