Eastchester Councilman Dies from COVID-19
Eastchester Councilman Glenn Bellitto died on Apr. 2 after having tested positive from COVID-19, County Executive George Latimer said Friday.
Bellitto, 62, is one of 71 Westchester residents whose lives have been claimed by the coronavirus. He had served on the Eastchester Town Board since 2011, and had previously sat on the Bronxville Village Board and the village’s Zoning Board of Appeals.
“In every one of these statistics is a human being, with a family and a life and that life has been cut short,” Latimer said. “We’re going to miss Glenn Bellitto and we’re going to miss the other individuals that we lost to this, and if this was the end of losing, we’d try to come to grips with it. But we’re far from that point right now.”
Bellitto, a Republican, had lived in Bronxville for the past 30 years with his wife, Kyle Anne Moran. He was born and raised in Yonkers and was a graduate of Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains and Harvard University.
Bellitto was vice president of finance at Acacia Network Housing, a Bronx-based non-profit organization and one of the largest providers of transitional housing for the New York City Department of Homeless Services.
He became interested in politics at an early age. By 18, he was elected vice president of the Westchester County Young Republicans and later became a district leader. He ran for Congress as the Republican candidate for the 16th District 30 years ago.
In addition to his public service, Bellitto was a member of the Eastchester Italian American Citizen’s Club, Tuckahoe-Eastchester Lion’s Club, Knights of Columbus, Order of the Sons of Italy and the Eastchester Irish-American Social Club.
He is survived by his wife; his daughter, Dale; his mother, Dolores (Patrone) Bellitto; brother Douglas; sister Robin Stettnisch (Bill); nephews Kevin, Ryan and Matthew; and many cousins and aunts. He was pre-deceased by his son, Gage, in 2017, and his father, Salvatore Joseph Bellitto.
A memorial service will be held at a later date.
County Center Preparations
Latimer said Friday that the County Center is expected to be ready to accept COVID-19 patients as a temporary hospital in about two weeks.
To date, there have been 12,351 Westchester COVID-19 positive cases out of just over 40,000 tests conducted. There are 11,260 active cases.
Latimer said that the county’s Office of Economic Development is seeking volunteers to help business owners complete and submit Small Business Administration (SBA) loan applications.
“All of the applicants will be trained in all aspects of the application process, and then once that training is done, in coordination with the SBA and Community Capital, then they will be able to assist small businesses in applying for these (loans),” Latimer said.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/