Al Jones - 1010 WINS
As much as any Broadway musical, police car siren or subway train, all-news radio station 1010 WINS is part of the soundtrack of New York. It's distinctive top of the hour stinger and tagline, "Give us 22 minutes and we'll give you the world," seems perfectly in tune with the pace of New York City.
For more than 25 years, Al Jones drove the streets of the city daily as a reporter for the station. He distilled the stories he found hourly into short 30-second reports and then moved to the next one. Nearly every building in New York reminds him of a story he told in real time to 1010 WINS listeners. He remembers many in vivid detail.
I spent an evening with him on his nightly rounds about a year before his retirement.