Media

Legendary TV reporter Gabe Pressman dead at 93

Legendary New York TV reporter Gabe Pressman, whose career spanned more than six decades, died in his sleep Friday morning. He was 93.

Pressman was one of the first television reporters in New York and worked at WNBC as a senior correspondent for decades.

He is survived by his wife, four children and eight grandchildren and one great-grandson.

Pressman’s daughter, Liz Pressman, is a longtime news librarian for the New York Post.

“He’s a pioneer in his field and he was, most importantly, a family man,” Pressman said. “We’re going to miss the hell out of him.”

Best known in the field as a “reporter’s reporter,” Pressman covered every New York City mayor from Robert F. Wagner to Bill de Blasio.

His long career also included stints at the New York World Telegram and Sun, where he worked as a city hall reporter.

The 1947 Columbia School of Journalism graduate became one of the most respected journalists in the city with stories on the 1956 sinking of the Andrea Doria and the Weinberger kidnapping on Long Island.

Pressman also covered all the chaos of the 1960s and ’70s — the race riots in Newark and New York, the New York City blackouts, riots at the Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1968, mayoral campaigns for Abraham Beame, William F. Buckley and John Lindsay, and Robert F. Kennedy’s start in New York politics.

Pressman’s many awards and accolades include 11 Emmys.

He was most recently set to be honored in September with the City Limits Urban Journalist Award.

Before his career in journalism, Pressman served as a combat naval officer in World War II and a communications officer on the submarine chaser PC 470 in the South Pacific, according to NBC.

After the war, he worked as the public relations officer for Adm. John Towers, who was commander-in-chief of the Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor.

After news of his passing, tributes from colleagues poured in Friday on social media.

“Joining my friends at WNBC in NY in mourning loss of Gabe Pressman,” NBC host Lester Holt tweeted. “Broadcast news pioneer and role model to generations of news people.”

“A true loss: relentless 60-year NYC reporter Gabe Pressman dead, 93. I interned in his newsroom, he was great to all,” Keith Olbermann wrote.

Mayor de Blasio posted a photo of himself and Pressman on Twitter, calling him a “New York City treasure.”

“He was a mentor to countless reporters doing vital work today. He’ll be deeply missed,” the mayor wrote.

In a statement, WNBC president and general manager Eric Lerner called Pressman a “television icon.”

“He was truly one of a kind and represented the very best in television news reporting. Gabe was still coming to work and thinking about the next story,” Lerner said. “He was a treasured colleague and friend to all of us and he will be missed. We extend our deepest condolences to the Pressman family during this difficult time.”