Categories: Articles, Pat Stevenson,
Cheryl Wills’ 34 Years at NY1: A Voice for New York, a Heart in Harlem By Pat Stevenson
After 34 years at Spectrum News NY1, Cheryl Wills is beginning a new chapter in the newsroom she helped build. The veteran journalist now anchors New York Tonight at 8 p.m., bringing her reporting to an earlier prime-time audience while continuing to host the public affairs program In Focus with Cheryl Wills.
For Wills, the expanded role carries both professional pride and a sense of responsibility.
“As a charter member who joined NY1 in 1992 before we even hit the airwaves, I have poured my heart into reporting for this city for more than three decades,” she told Harlem Community News. “Expanding into an earlier prime-time slot allows me to connect with an even broader audience during pivotal evening news hours.”
Wills began at NY1 as a newswriter and producer when local cable news was still a new venture. She could not have imagined spending her entire television career at the station.
“Not in my wildest dreams!” she said. “My primary focus was proving that I even belonged in a newsroom in the nation’s biggest television market.”
Her persistence helped take her from behind the scenes to the anchor desk. She became the first African American woman to host a prime-time nightly newscast for NY1, a milestone she calls “monumental.” Along the way, she earned Emmy Awards and established herself as a journalist whose work is rooted in the communities she covers.
“That path was not always easy.” Wills recalls entering an industry where newsrooms and anchor desks rarely reflected the diversity of New York City. “As a Black woman, she said, she had to repeatedly demonstrate her authority and versatility while challenging narrow ideas about which stories deserved attention.”
“I faced the subtle and overt skepticism that many Black journalists encounter,” she said, including questions about her objectivity when she advocated for deeper coverage of Black communities. She met those challenges through preparation, self-belief and a commitment to authentic storytelling.
Wills has also watched local coverage change. She remembers a time when reports about Black neighborhoods too often centered on crime, protests or tragedy. Today, she sees more room for stories about entrepreneurs, political influence, housing, gentrification and cultural preservation. Through her reporting and In Focus, she has worked to make those stories part of the citywide conversation.
“I’m very proud to amplify positive and inspiring news out of the historically Black communities of Harlem, Central Brooklyn and Southeast Queens,” she said.
Harlem holds a personal place in that mission. Wills’ maternal grandparents left the Jim Crow South and came to Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance. She said Apostle R.C. Lawson, founder of Harlem’s Refuge Temple, married them in a Harlem brownstone in the 1920s.
“Needless to say, my roots run deep in Harlem!” she said.
Those roots have given special meaning to her assignments in the neighborhood. Among her most treasured interviews was a one-on-one conversation with Dr. Maya Angelou inside the writer’s Harlem brownstone. Wills also remembers interviewing Harry Belafonte at a Harlem book signing, covering community rallies and historic milestones, and marching up Seventh Avenue in the African American Day Parade alongside fellow grand marshal Doug E. Fresh.
“Harlem holds a sacred place in my heart as the cultural capital of Black America,” she said.
A native New Yorker and graduate of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Wills has received honors that include a Gracie Award and recognition from the New York Press Club, the Associated Press and the Newswomen’s Club of New York. In 2025, she won an Emmy for a special report on the reburial of her Civil War ancestor, Sandy Wills.
Discovering his story opened another chapter of her work. Sandy Wills, her great-great-great-grandfather, escaped slavery and served with the United States Colored Troops. His life inspired her to research her family’s journey from slavery to freedom and share it through books for adults and young readers.
Wills recommends beginning with Die Free: A Heroic Family Tale, which follows her discovery of Sandy Wills and connects that history to her own life growing up in New York. Her books The Emancipation of Grandpa Sandy Wills and Emancipated: My Family’s Fight for Freedom introduce young readers to Civil War history through her family’s experience.
She is especially proud of EMMA, about Sandy’s wife, Emma West Moore Wills. After his death, Emma fought to obtain her widow’s pension. Wills describes her as the matriarch of the family’s freedom.
“She was an extraordinary woman who transitioned from slavery to freedom as a teenager,” Wills said. “I’m very proud to restore her legacy.”
Wills has spoken before the United Nations General Assembly and encourages young people to explore history, genealogy and the perseverance of those who came before them. For her, preserving family stories is closely connected to the work of journalism: both require listening carefully and making sure people are remembered accurately.
She offered a message directly to Harlem readers.
“Thank you for inviting me into your homes, your churches, your local businesses, and your community,” she said. “I urge you to continue supporting local Black journalism like Harlem Community News, preserve your own family histories, and pass those stories down to your children. Know your history, honor your ancestors, and never forget the power of your own voice!”
As Wills steps into an earlier broadcast hour, she remains clear about the legacy she hopes to leave: giving everyday New Yorkers a voice, mentoring the next generation and telling Black stories with dignity and accuracy.
“I want to be remembered as a fearless, compassionate, and unwavering truth-teller,” she said. “I also want to be remembered as a warrior for the remembrance of our ancestors. Were it not for their strength, we would not be here today.”
