STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.—In my travels around the snowy borough—and while negotiating piles of snow in potential parking spots—the cleared lot at the King’s Arms proved particularly appealing last week. A scheduled restaurant canceled an interview at the last minute, so I kept the faith and figured the universe had a plan.
And it did. I bumped into broadcaster and show host Mickey Burns, a man who can film in a professional studio with a celebrity one day and settle into a booth at the King’s Arms the next. His pal had missed the ferry, so Mickey had a little time—enough for a quick catch-up at the diner and a profile of the profiler himself as he wrapped up pancakes with a side of nostalgia.
Profiles in Real Life
If you’ve ever wondered where Staten Island’s familiar faces refuel between interviews, filming days, and trips to warmer places, the answer—at least for one of them—is the King’s Arms Diner in West Brighton. That’s where I ran into Burns, longtime host of NYC Media Network’s award-winning Profiles, now entering its 23rd year on the air. He wasn’t just grabbing breakfast; he offered a full table-side catch-up on his show, his affection for the diner, and his many projects that seem to multiply by the week.
“We’re inching closer to 800 episodes,” he said with a grin. “We love what we do.” The show airs three times a week—Saturday at 11 p.m., Sunday at 7:30 p.m., and late night on Thursday—and reaches nearly 20 million viewers across New Jersey, Long Island, the five boroughs and parts of upstate New York…