Ruschell Boone (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

West; 1975 – 3 September 2023) was a Jamaican-born American reporter and journalist based in New York City. She worked for

NY1 NY1 (also officially known as Spectrum News NY1 and spoken as New York One) is an American cable news television channel founded by Time Warner Cable, which itself is owned by Charter Communications through its acquisition in May 2016. The channe ...

cable television news from 2002 until her death in 2023.

Early life and education

Ruschell West was born in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

. She immigrated to

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

in 1986 when she was 11, where she recalled being bullied for her Jamaican accent. She was one of five children in a blended family with her mother Faithlyn (Swaby) and stepfather Duke Scott. Boone earned a degree in accounting from

City University of New York (CUNY) The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the public university system of New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven senior colleges, seven community colleges and seven pro ...

Baruch College Baruch College (officially the Bernard M. Baruch College) is a public college in New York City. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York system. Named for financier and statesman Bernard M. Baruch, the college operates und ...

. Although she picked accounting to ensure a good living, she discovered her passion for journalism in her senior year when she took over a college radio segment for a missing guest. Boone's academic counselor tried to dissuade her from a career change, saying that it was too late for her to change paths and that she did not "fit the mold".

Career

Working in cable television news since 1998, Boone was a business news associate for

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...

and then an associate producer and assignment editor for

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

. She joined

in 2002. As a reporter for NY1, she covered breaking stories such as the 2016 pressure-cooker bombing in Manhattan and the 2016 presidential election. She became a general assignment reporter for NY1's ''Live at Ten'' newscast in 2018. In 2019, Boone was nominated for three

New York Emmy Award The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, edu ...

s for news reporting and work on NY1's talk shows, and in 2020 she was nominated again as a live reporter. She moved to the anchor desk in 2021.

Personal life and death

On 24 September 2005, Ruschell West married Todd Boone, a production technician at NY1. They went on to have two sons. In 2022, she began a medical leave from NY1 for treatment of pancreatic cancer. She later returned to the NY1 anchor desk, but succumbed to medical complications on 3 September 2023, at the age of 48. Speakers at her memorial service included New York elected officials

Letitia James Letitia Ann James (born October 18, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician. She is a member of the Democratic Party and the current Attorney General of New York, having won the 2018 election to succeed appointed Attorney General Barbara Und ...

Eric Adams Eric Leroy Adams (born September 1, 1960) is an American politician and retired police captain serving as the 110th mayor of New York City since January 1, 2022. Adams was an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York C ...

Adrienne Adams Adrienne Adams may refer to: * Adrienne Adams (illustrator) (1906–2002), American illustrator * Adrienne Adams (politician) Adrienne Eadie Adams (born December 9, 1960) is an American politician serving as Speaker of the New York City C ...

, and

Donovan Richards Donovan Richards, Jr. (born April 9, 1983) is an American politician serving as the Borough President of Queens. He is also a former New York City Council member, having represented the 31st district. He is a member of the Democratic Party. His ...

Awards

New York Press Club The New York Press Club, sometimes ''NYPC'', is a private nonprofit membership organization which promotes journalism in the New York City metropolitan area. It is unaffiliated with any government organization and abstains from politics. While the c ...

Award for Best Feature Reporting – 2013 *

New York Association of Black Journalists New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

award for Best Spot News Reporting – 2014 * ''

City & State ''City & State'' is a political journalism organization based in New York City. The company publishes a weekly magazine covering politics and government in New York City and New York State that is distributed to New York State legislators, count ...

'' list of Queens Most Influential Leaders – 2016, 2019, 2020 *

Queens District Attorney The District Attorney of Queens County is the elected district attorney for Queens County in New York State, coterminous with the New York City borough of Queens. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state laws. ...

's William Tucker Garvin Public Service Award – 2019

References

External links

RuschellBoone.com
– official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Boone, Ruschell 1975 births 2023 deaths Baruch College alumni People from Kingston, Jamaica Television anchors from New York City American women television journalists African-American women journalists African-American journalists Deaths from pancreatic cancer in New York (state) 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American women journalists 20th-century African-American women writers 20th-century American women writers 20th-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century African-American writers Jamaican emigrants to the United States