Suspended NBC news anchor Brian Williams makes rare public appearance while fate remains up in the air

Since Brian Williams was suspended without pay on February 10, the embattled "NBC Nightly News" anchor has hardly been seen in public.

Until yesterday, when he was spotted on the streets of Manhattan clutching his daughter Allison's new Golden Retriever puppy, Moxie, while walking with her and his wife Jane, according to pictures published by the Daily Mail. 

The longtime news anchor was removed from the airwaves in the wake of the fabrication scandal prompted by his now-discredited claim that his helicopter took rocket fire during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Since his suspension, he has only reportedly been seen one other time in public - at a fundraiser for his high school in New Jersey.

It is unclear if Williams will return to the anchor chair, currently occupied by Lester Holt amid a slide in ratings that has seen ABC's "World News Tonight" ascend to the top spot among primetime national newscasts, according to the Associated Press.