Darlene Rodriguez

One of New York’s best-known local broadcast journalists, Darlene Rodriguez is a multiple Emmy® Award winner with deep roots in our local community. She has been trusted by NBC 4 New York viewers for more than two decades for her knowledge, expertise and professionalism. For the past two decades, Rodriguez has served as the Co-Anchor of Today in New York, airing every weekday between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m.

Rodriguez’s anchoring was a key component of NBC 4 New York’s award-winning COVID-19 coverage, honored in January 2021 with the prestigious Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for “creat(ing) a 360 view in real time of the coronavirus pandemic, with courageous and thorough reporting on the virus’s explosion in New York City.” The duPont has long been recognized as the broadcast, documentary and on-line equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, also awarded by Columbia University.

In 2017, she was one of the first Tri-State broadcast journalists to visit Puerto Rico following the devastation of Hurricane Maria, spending a full week on the ground reporting the relief and recovery efforts. In conjunction with the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Maria, Rodriguez returned to Puerto Rico to chronicle the rebuilding and recovery process and interview key elected officials and community leaders. Her coverage of Puerto Rico’s recovery and continued service to the community was recognized in 2018 by the National Hispanic Media Coalition, which presented her with a coveted Impact Award for “Excellence in Broadcast Journalism”.

Over the past twenty years at NBC 4 New York, Rodriguez has covered many of the Tri-State’s most memorable stories, often sharing them outside of her daily role as news anchor. Rodriguez frequently goes to where the story is happening, including the police shooting of Amadou Diallo in 1999, the September 11^th attacks and the crash of Flight 587 in Queens, while en route to the Dominican Republic. Rodriguez was also the first Tri-State television reporter on the scene in Vieques, Puerto Rico when news broke about the clashes between residents and the U.S. Navy. She later returned four times to cover the resulting developments.

Rodriguez’s heart is always with the Tri-State Area community, and she’s had the privilege of sharing many thoughtful stories over the years about Holocaust survivors, terminally ill children, police widows, September 11^th survivors and many more special human interest stories.

Rodriguez has also traveled to Rome to cover Pope John Paul II’s meeting with U.S. Cardinals regarding the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal. In 2015, she also travelled to Cuba to cover Pope Francis’ visit to the nation. Her on-the-ground reporting from Cuba was later nominated for a New York Emmy®.

Rodriguez is a frequent contributor to the TODAY Show with one of her segments previously nominated for a national GLAAD award, and she also has served as a fill-in newsreader on Weekend TODAY. She joined NBC 4 New York from WCBS 880 AM where she was a general assignment reporter for four years. Prior to that, she worked as a reporter for BronxNet cable television for a year where she covered some of the most compelling stories about the borough’s politics, growth and renaissance.

Recognized regularly for her commitment to journalistic excellence and community service, in 2023 she was honored by the New York City Mayor for her contributions to journalism in New York City and she was also the recipient of the 2011 "Mujeres Destacadas (Distinguished Women) Award" from El Diario La Prensa. In 2022, she earned a “Latina Excellence” Award from Hispanic Magazine for her coverage of the Hispanic community. She has also received multiple awards from the National Hispanic Media Coalition, the New York Police Department and the NYPD’s Hispanic Society, and has been honored by the Drug Enforcement Administration. She has also been recognized and honored by the New York State Courts, the Bronx Chamber of Commerce, the Bronx Borough President, the City of New York, the National Coalition of Latino Officers and the City of White Plains for prominently and proudly representing the Hispanic community in her professional and charitable endeavors.

Rodriguez is actively involved in supporting many community events such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Hudson Valley and the Cristian Rivera Foundation, an organization dedicated to finding a cure for a rare fatal brain tumor in young children. In addition, she has worked with the New York Urban League and the American Heart Association of Westchester.

Rodriguez graduated from the University of Miami with a Bachelor of Science in Broadcast Journalism and Political Science. She resides in Westchester County with her husband and their family.

You can connect with Darlene Rodriguez on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.