A familiar voice that guided New Yorkers through some of the city’s most historic and heartbreaking moments has gone silent.
According to the New York Post, veteran television anchor Ernie Anastos, a towering figure in New York broadcasting for decades, has died at the age of 82.
Fox 5 confirmed his death on Thursday in a statement honoring the longtime journalist.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Ernie Anastos, who died at the age of 82,” the station said.
“An Emmy Award-winning journalist and beloved former Fox 5 news anchor, his voice, integrity, and lasting impact on New York journalism will never be forgotten.”
Anastos died early Thursday morning at Northern Westchester Hospital from pneumonia, according to his wife, CBS 2 reported.
Over the course of a career that stretched across multiple decades, Anastos became one of the most recognizable news figures in the New York metropolitan area.
He earned 30 Emmy Awards and nominations during his time in television news and ultimately received a prestigious Lifetime Emmy Award.
Throughout his career, Anastos covered some of the most significant stories affecting the region and the country, including the Sept. 11 terror attacks and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The proud Greek-American journalist worked at several major New York television stations and built a reputation as a steady and trusted presence on the air.
Anastos began his New York television career at ABC 7 in 1978 and remained there until 1989.
He later moved to CBS 2 before joining WWOR in 1997. He returned to CBS again in 2001 before making another career move a few years later.
In 2005, Anastos signed on with Fox 5 New York, where he became a key part of the station’s nightly news coverage.
There, he partnered with Rosanna Scotto to deliver the evening broadcasts for years.
“I enjoyed working with him, anchoring alongside of him on the 10 o’clock news. He was a good man and someone we really looked up to,” wrote Scotto in a Facebook post.
“We are all heartbroken.”
Anastos remained at Fox 5 until around 2020, when he stepped away and enrolled in leadership management classes at Harvard Business School.
Even after leaving television, he continued working in the media.
In the years leading up to his death, Anastos hosted a program on 77WABC radio.
He also continued speaking publicly about journalism and the importance of truth.
“We have to teach truth in our homes and in our schools, wherever we have that opportunity,” he said in a March 3 Instagram video.
“I think we all have to sit back and say let’s stand up for truth and support it and make sure that we live it on a day-to-day basis.”
Anastos’ contributions to broadcasting were widely recognized.
He was inducted into the New York State Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame for his work in the industry.
Earlier in his career, however, he faced pressure to abandon his Greek surname.
In a 2010 profile with The New York Times, Anastos recalled that supervisors once suggested changing his last name to something less ethnic.
At a Boston radio station, a boss asked if he would consider going by Ernie Andrews.
A television executive in Rhode Island suggested the name, Keith Andrews.
“Ethnic names were not all that hot,” Anastos recalled.
Despite the pressure, he kept the name that would eventually become synonymous with New York television news.
