NYS Majority Leader Ron Canestrari dead at 83

NYS Majority Leader Ron Canestrari dead at 83 Andrew Yocum WNYT ALBANY, N.Y. (WNYT)- New York State Assemblymember Ron Canestrari has died at 83 years old after a three week stretch of illness. His death was announced by fellow Assemblymember John T. McDonald III, a friend and neighbor of Canestrari. Canestrari was elected Mayor of Cohoes in 1975, where he served until 1989. He counted one of his proudest achievements as mayor to be the conversion of an old church into the Cohoes Public Library. Canestrari was elected to the Assembly in 1989, where he represented parts of Albany, Rensselaer, and Saratoga counties. He chaired the Higher Education Committee and helped start the Watervliet Arsenal technology partnership and the University at Albany’s NanoCollege. Canestrari became Majority Leader in 2007 and retired at the end of 2012. Many fellow politicians have expressed their grief over Canestrari’s passing, including Congressman Paul Tonko, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, and County Executive Daniel McCoy. “Ron never took things for granted and as a friend and a next-door neighbor of Ron’s for over 30 years, I can attest to the personal efforts he put into his role as Mayor and Assemblymember,” said McDonald. “Ron treated everyone with respect and that respect was mutual.”