A legendary New York radio reporter is calling it quits. 1010 WINS storyteller John Montone is retiring after almost 40 years. He announced his retirement on Thursday during a segment with Brigitte Quinn and Lee Harris on WINS Morning Drive.
“It’s been almost 40 years that I’ve had the honor of working for what I call the world’s most important radio station in the world’s greatest city,” said Montone.
Montone recalled one story and some fast-thinking that endeared him to the station’s management and ultimately catapulted him onto the staff.
“My big story where I think I got on the radar was a train strike, New Jersey Transit was just forming. the old Eric-Lackawanna engineers walked off the job and NJT set up a shuttle bus service and called it kiss and ride,” Montone said. “It was what you would think of , a young woman dropping her husband off at the bus stop and they would kiss and ride.”
Montone said he re-created the image of the drop-off by sticking his microphone in between a couple making out. Long story short, management loved the creativity and Montone became a fixture in the Big Apple.
On September 11, 2001 Montone was in the middle of the chaos when the Twin Towers were attacked. When management hadn’t heard from Montone following one of his reports, they went out looking for him. Ben Mevorach, brand manager and director of news and programming, spotted him on the street covered in ash.
Thursday, Mevorach sent a letter to the staff, praising Montone’s work and his storytelling abilities.
“He is a masterful writer, an extraordinary story-teller, and — perhaps most incredibly — he creates an intimacy with the people he interviews…the result is some of the most memorable moments in the station’s history,” Mevorach said. “This concrete jungle has been his playground. His stories are recited back to him by listeners… sometimes years after they first aired. That is the kind of impact that can never be overstated.”
