Iconic NY columnist Pete Hamill dies

Iconic New York City columnist and editor Pete Hamill died on Wednesday at age 85, according to an announcement from his brother.

The news quickly prompted remembrances and tributes to Hamill, including from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) who called the Brooklyn-born writer the “voice of New York.”

“So saddened to hear that Pete Hamill passed away,” Cuomo said in a Wednesday statement. “Pete was not just an unsurpassed journalist, editor and writer — he was the voice of New York. We say goodbye today to an irreplaceable New Yorker. I know that his legacy and work will live on.”

Hamill’s career included a stint as editor-in-chief of the New York Post in 1993 during a well-publicized newsroom revolt against publisher Abe Hirschfeld. He later became editor-in-chief of the tabloid-rival New York Daily News.

But he was best known as a columnist chronicling life in the Big Apple for the city’s tabloids.

Tributes poured in from the journalism community when the news broke Wednesday morning.

The truly great Pete Hamill died this morning. Newspaperman, novelist, mentor to so many, citizen of the world. I once wrote that if the pavement of New York City could talk, it would sound like Pete Hamill. Now that city weeps.

— Dan Barry (@DanBarryNYT) August 5, 2020

“Pete Hamill, the Brooklyn-born bard of the five boroughs…”
Wonderful obit by the great Larry McShane, which includes this remarkable nugget: Pete Hamill won a Grammy for writing the liner notes for Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks!
https://t.co/cSMzJydbCo

— Joel Siegel (@joelmsiegel) August 5, 2020

An icon of NY journalism has passed: #PeteHamill. Along with his brother, Dennis, Jimmy Breslin, Murray Kempton, Les Payne: Men (yes, all male) who brought the lives of working stiffs to front pages, & dug deep on crime & racism in halls of wealth & power.https://t.co/DYiyg7CV8Y

— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie_Garrett) August 5, 2020

Pete Hamill was the voice of NYC, with ‘an old-fashioned thing called grace’: Mike Lupica https://t.co/9tJRawfzaz

— Mike Lupica (@MikeLupica) August 5, 2020

The great Pete Hamill. RIP. One of the best parts about working with Imus was the people we met and this man was a true NY legend. https://t.co/QtAajiNuG3

— Connell McShane (@connellmcshane) August 5, 2020

Sad to hear that Pete Hamill – Deadline Artist – died this morning. There are few of the greatest generation of reported columnists still alive but their work will endure and continues to inspire. https://t.co/BZhNeqBMtT

— John Avlon (@JohnAvlon) August 5, 2020

Hamill was first hired by the New York Post in 1960.