Kate Sullivan co-anchors CBS 2 News This Morning on WCBS along side Maurice DuBois every weekday morning. She is a native of New England, attended Notre Dame and came to channel 2 in April of 2006 from KATV in Little Rock, Arkansas, which is ranked #57 on the list of biggest television markets. We recently paid her a visit at the studio and asked her some questions.
Did you always want to come to New York?
I always wanted to do the best work possible. I think it is everyone’s dream to come to New York. Number one television market. It is seen as the success. I was thrilled to come to New York and I always wanted to work in a major metropolitan city and the fact that New York came to me was beyond my wildest dreams.
So how does coming from a station in Little Rock to the big network flagship station here compare?
Culture shock, first and foremost. I had developed quite a career in Little Rock and had a life there. I had been there for six years and I loved the people, but at some point I knew I wanted to move on.
The opportunity to come to New York was amazing. You really can’t compare. They are totally different. Apples, oranges, Little Rock, New York. There is no comparison in every single way. And I am someone who enjoys being in a situation and adapting, seeking out the best. And there is so much to love about New York and believe it or not there was a lot to love about Arkansas, too.
What time do you get up?
I get up at 3 a.m. every morning and the next question is usually when do you go to sleep, right? I think that sleep management is extremely important on this schedule, but also you want to take advantage of everything the city has to offer. You want to be able to go grab dinner with friends. Nothing is easy. You have to negotiate with them to see if the can come a little bit earlier or you go a little bit later, but it varies from night to night.
Do you have a favorite cheap eats spot in the city?
I love S’Mac. It is macaroni and cheese. I think that is a brilliant idea. I love macaroni and cheese and it is all different types of gourmet macaroni and cheese.
But I also love Pearl’s Oyster Bar for lobster salad rolls and being originally from Boston and New England, I will tell you that Pearl’s Oyster Bar has the best lobster salad rolls of anything I ever had in my life.
We have to ask, are you a Red Sox fan?
It is funny, when I lived in Boston and grew up in Boston I grew up around the Red Sox, so at heart I do pull for them. It was the same situation with the Giants and the Patriots, but I was so proud of the Giants for pulling it off. They wanted to win more, they played better and it was great to see and it was great to be in the town that gave them so much support and created so much excitement.
Given the opportunity how would you change New York?
I don’t think I would. I think that New York is such a unique and individual place. There is no place like it in the world and I think that the energy of the city is caused by the problems of the city. The impatience of getting around, the problem with transit and traffic. How difficult it is to live here is all part of what creates the energy and if you alleviated some of the problems the city would be totally different. So I don’t know if I would change it.
Maybe the rats. I don’t know. I might eliminate the rats.
Please share your strangest "only in New York" story.
About three weeks ago I was coming in after dinner, it was late in the evening and a guy in my hall waved good evening. I didn’t think anything of it, I said good evening.
The next morning, I come out pretty early to run, I see the same man and he said, “Excuse me. Were you the girl I saw at one in the morning I saw coming in last night?” And I said, “Yes.” He said, “I have lived on this floor for four months now and I have not seen a single person. You are the first person and this is my last day in the building. ”
And I said to him, “Wait a minute, are you an actor?” And he said, “Yeah.” And I go “What were you on?” And he said, “Spin City.” I go, “”No before that.” And he goes, “Mad About You.” I go, “”No before that.” He goes, “Look, I am not going to do this. I am not going to play what were you in. I just wanted to tell you it was so good to see an actual person on this floor. I love living in this building, but it was getting a little creepy. “ And I explained that I never see anyone, but I thought it was because of my hours.
It turned out to be Richard Kind. He is a great character actor. You only have those kind of interactions here in New York.
