really guilty. I’m Catholic. I lean that way, anyway. It’s not a question people ask men, although men are thinking more about time at home. When people ask how are you balancing, [the implication is] you must be shortchanging work somehow or you must be shortchanging home. GK: Having it all means different things to different people. I refused, when my kids were little, to feel guilty because I wanted to work. I remember when I was anchoring the noon news and the five o’clock news, [my daughter] Kirby had taken her first steps. When I got home, her dad— my ex—said, “Don’t you feel guilty that you didn’t see that?” I go, “No. Because she took it at 12 o’clock and I got home at 6?” I got to see it when I saw it, and it wasn’t days later. There are challenges and you make choices. But my point is, we figure it out. MR: She was practicing for you! She wanted to be good! It’s a lot of pressure. GK: You know the moms making the cupcakes from scratch? I was never one of those. I think you can get Entenmann’s and make your contribution, and that’s okay. I refused the guilt trip about not doing enough. Kids know you were there for all the important things. Quite frankly, when it was baseball season, I didn’t mind missing a couple of those games.... they took forever. [Laughs] GOTHAM: Do you think it’s easier for women to gain power and success in New York than other cities? GK: Women have more options here, but the competition is greater. In New York you bump into superstars every day. (By superstars I mean people who are exceptionally good at what they do.) While it may not be easier, the opportunities are endless. NO: There’s an incredible concentration of intelligence and talent. And while it sometimes feels like you are a small fish in a big pond of the world’s most successful people, the connections and relationships you can make here really are unparalleled. MR: You both tweet a lot and have a lot of Twitter followers. I have found it very useful in stories that I do. NO: I remember when I started my news career and there was a wire feed. Now I don’t check the wires; I check Twitter! GK: If something is breaking, I’ll go on to see what people are saying about it. The thing about Twitter is, people can say the most heinous things and have no accountability or responsibility, and that bothers me. NO: You can’t Google yourself or read the reply page. Some people make nice comments, but other people will say, “What is so wrong with you?” You have to have thick skin. MR: Now, Norah, you and I follow each other. Gayle, I follow you, but you don’t follow me. Why? GK: Are you sure I don’t? That will change today! NO: Gayle, once you follow him, you guys can direct message. GK: I have no idea how to do that. NO: I think that’s what Anthony Weiner did. MR: That’s exactly what Anthony Weiner did. NO: Not saying that you guys would have that kind of friendship.
GK: That would be a story. MR: This is just a softball question because everything else has been so tough. What is it like working with Charlie? GK: He is so scary smart, but in all of that such a true gentleman that I am so smitten with how he operates. NO: Charlie has a wonderful sense of humor. He is so generous and always talks about being open to new possibilities. We have this running debate of passion versus moderation, because I always say everything in moderation and Charlie says everything with full passion. GK: The beauty of the three of us together? Nobody is faking. If Charlie doesn’t feel like playing, he doesn’t. If Norah doesn’t have anything to say or I don’t have anything to say, we don’t try to think of something just to fill the space. Remember when I was reading about something that had gone wrong about Real Housewives? I said to Charlie on air, “Should we come over to your house? Will you be having a Real Housewives marathon this weekend?” And he goes, “I think not,” and went right into the next story. You can’t feel dissed or that he left me hanging because it was so authentic and great. MR: That’s great because in morning TV you’re supposed to like everything, and its great when people don’t like something. Who would be your ultimate get? GK: Derek Jeter! NO: The Pope or the head of IBM, Ginni Rometty. GOTHAM: You’ve both carved out time for charity involvements. Why did you chose the organizations you did? GK: I like Women In Need. I’m partial to women who find themselves in circumstances they [didn’t expect], whether its divorce or the death of a spouse. I love what Geoffrey Canada is doing at the Harlem Children’s Zone. Governor Cuomo just nominated me to be on the New York State Council of the Arts, and I really liked that idea. I know what music, literature, and museums can do for people who were not exposed to them. NO: I just moved here in the last year. Citymeals-on-Wheels is something I’m involved with, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation. I’m on the board of the International Women’s Media Foundation, which helps women journalists who have been discriminated against and jailed around the world. It is one of the most incredible organizations. GOTHAM: What are some of your favorite parts of New York? NO: Cat Hill is a great little running place, which many people don’t know. It’s by the Boathouse. When I started [on the morning show], I lived at the Essex House for six months. I would run through Central Park to Cat Hill, which is probably about a mile from where I started. [Sometimes] I would have to stop and start walking, so whenever I could finally make it up Cat Hill without walking, that was a huge accomplishment. GK: The West Side Highway with no traffic. You’re along the river and people are biking or walking. You’re not sitting in bumper to bumper with your stomach knotting up. The highway has been in a couple of songs. Jay Z makes reference to it. It’s really relaxing. Pretty is not the word, but it feels so New York to me. G
“FROM THE MOMENT I WAS IN THE NEWSROOM, I WAS HOOKED AND NEVER LOOKED BACK.” —GAYLE KING 94
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