David Diaz ‘Death touches NYC and CBS News New York. He was the completed “reporter of the reporter”

The television journalist and educator David Diaz, who has spent decades with New York City and the Tri-State area, died last week at the age of 82.

Here at CBS News New York we were lucky that he shared his remarkable skills, his generous spirit and his contagious smile with us and our spectators.

“New York City Guy”, who could do anything

Diaz ‘television career career extended over three decades. He tirelessly pursued the truth, with difficult and tender properties, such as the city he loved.

He reported the tragedy of September 11th with plenty of skills and empathy.

“A reporter of a reporter. New York City Guy. Hard Scrabble, you know, inherited and wanted to address others too,” said CBS Evening News Anchor Maurice Dubois about his former colleague.

“He understood New York City like very few journalists and that was David Diaz. He was a perfect professional, a charming, charming man,” said CBS News New York Anchor Mary Calvi.

“He was a legend,” said Jennifer Jones of CBS News New York.

Diaz told enclosed stories for decades

Diaz was born in Puerto Rico in 1942 and at the age of 3 he grew up in Washington Heights. He was trained at Fordham Prep, City College and Columbia University.

He had been a community activist and newspaper reporter when he was hired by NBC, where he spent 15 years. He then spent more than 12 years here at CBS News New York.

“I met David Diaz for the first time when I was a print reporter and we made a complicated trip to South America and Central America. He was able to record this complex story with several places and cut them on the field and feed a piece of back and be in the evening news every evening.

“There was David. You sent him out, you knew that you would get the story,” said the New York producer of CBS New York, Wanda Prisinzano.

“He did everything, anchoring, field anchoring, reporting. If you needed something, he was always there,” added CBS News New York Field Operations Manager Brian Lowder.

“A mentor” and much more

Family members say that Diaz has lived with a form of dementia in recent years that reduced his communication gifts but even faded as his words, his spirit never did.

“He was such a mentor. He was a mentor from the time when I met him for the first time and in 1993, and after leaving channel 2, which was generally an enormous loss of journalism. Then he wanted to help, so he teaches him. I know that it is a big hole in so many human life,” added CBS New York anchor and reporter Cindy Hsu.

Diaz is survived by his daughters Elena, Nina, son -in -law Johnathan and his wife Andrea.