Rosanna Scotto came back to Good Day New York on Tuesday, September 1, and quickly found herself fighting tears on live television. The Fox 5 anchor became emotional while talking about her mother, Marion Scotto, who died at 90.
The moment came as B.J. Thomas' Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head played ahead of the morning weather forecast, a song Scotto said instantly brought her back to her parents. “Sorry, sorry. This song reminds me of my parents,” she said before trying to steady herself. Then she told viewers, “My mother would kill me right now if she saw me crying on the air, so we’re going to get it together.”
The reaction landed because Scotto had only just returned to the studio after announcing her mother’s death in an Instagram tribute on August 26. She thanked viewers, friends and fans for their messages and support before coming back on air, making the day less a routine return than a public reckoning with grief in real time. Dan Bowens offered condolences on behalf of Fox 5 and its viewers, while Meteorologist Mike Woods welcomed her back and told her they understood.
Scotto’s post was also a portrait of the woman behind the broadcast. She called Marion Scotto the heart of the family and wrote that, to the world, she was known as the heart of Fresco by Scotto, but to her children she was simply Mom. Marion Scotto helped open the Midtown restaurant more than three decades ago, even mortgaging the Brooklyn home where she and her husband had raised their children to help get it started. The restaurant later became a place that drew presidents, world leaders, royalty and celebrities, but Scotto said her mother cared most about whether customers left feeling welcomed and looked after.
That is what made her return feel so raw. Scotto said she knew it was time to go back because that was what her mother would have wanted, even adding that she had taken more time than Marion would have allowed if she were still here. She said her mother would probably have expected her back much sooner after Anthony Scotto died in 2021, when Marion sent her children back to work at the restaurant that very night.
For Scotto, the message was not that grief had ended. It was that work had resumed because that was how her mother lived. She wrote that her mother’s table will always be set in their hearts, and said she hoped Anthony Scotto was waiting for Marion with Frank Sinatra music.
