Cortlandt Recreation Area to be Named for Former Town Supervisor
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
A recreation area on Croton Avenue in Cortlandt will be named this week in honor of former Supervisor Charles DiGiacomo.
The dedication ceremony will take place on Thursday, Aug. 17 at 5 p.m. The facility, located in the vicinity of Walter Panas High School, includes basketball, tennis and pickleball courts.
DiGiacomo, who served five terms as the town’s chief executive from 1980 to 1989, died Dec. 29, 2022, at the age of 82. He resided on Devonshire Court for many years.
“He lived in that area. We wanted to recognize him in some way and his wife and daughter thought this was a good idea,” said current Cortlandt Supervisor Dr. Richard Becker.
DiGiacomo grew up in Ossining and served as a town councilman in Cortlandt before being elected supervisor during an often highly-charged political climate and a time of significant development growth.
He was also very interested in youth and senior citizen programs and was a strong advocate for veterans. He served in the U.S. Army Reserves as a second lieutenant.
DiGiacomo is the fourth supervisor in Cortlandt’s history to have his name memorialized at a town facility.
The town’s swimming pool is named after Charles Cook, the community center on Westbrook Drive is named after Muriel Morabito and Town Hall is named after Linda Puglisi.
Meanwhile, a park on Route 6 is named after former Councilman Michael Mongero.
Becker noted the Northern Westchester Joint Water Works building on Route 6 will be named in the near future after longtime Zoning Board of Appeals member Raymond Reber. Reber, who died at the age of 80 nine days before DiGiacomo passed away, was a founding trustee of the Water Works in 1995, served as chairman of the Board of Trustees for three years during the construction of the new Catskill Treatment Plant on Route 6 and served as acting director from 2003 to 2008.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/