Joe Cannella, a Harrison judge and former longtime councilman, died on Dec. 22 of a heart attack. He was 66 years old.
“He was a compassionate, selfless man that loved his family and community very much,” said Nancy Cannella, his wife of 44 years.
Although Cannella was about to begin just the second year of his first term as a town justice, he had been a public servant of Harrison for more than two decades. Cannella served on the Planning Board from 1991 to 1999, including five years as chairman of that board. In 2001, he was elected to the Town Council and held the seat until the beginning of 2016, when he stepped down after being elected as a town judge. He was deputy mayor for four years while on the board, serving under both former Mayor Joan Walsh, a Democrat, and current Mayor Ron Belmont, a Republican.
“He was definitely an asset to the town wherever he served,” Belmont told the Review. “As a little league coach or a Planning Board member or as a councilman, he was very astute in whatever he was doing.”
Cannella was a partner at the Manhattan-based law firm Eaton & Van Winkle, where he spent more than 35 years as an attorney. He moved to Harrison in 1982. He grew up in Queens, New York, where he received degrees in law and finance from St. John’s University. He also earned a degree in tax law from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Before moving to Harrison, Cannella had also worked as an attorney for the IRS.
Belmont also accredited Cannella for crafting the deal which led to the pending AvalonBay transit oriented development project on the Metro-North parking lot off of Halstead Avenue, and said he also helped the town survive financial difficulties.
After announcing his candidacy for judge in 2015, Cannella told the Review he had always intended to run for town justice, but that he delayed his candidacy to help the town recover from the Great Recession. “When the town was going broke back in 2008, he was on the Town Council and he was the artist behind the [labor givebacks] deal … that bailed the town out,” Belmont said.
Cannella was also an award-winning volunteer coach in the town’s Little League, Babe Ruth League and youth soccer program, where colleagues said he was as diligent and dedicated as in his political service.
“Joe was a dear friend and a consummate professional,” said Councilwoman Marlane Amelio, a Republican who served on the town board alongside Cannella for six years. “His legacy of commitment, respect and love for the residents of Harrison will be remembered for a long time.”
Cannella is survived by his wife, Nancy; his son, Jonathan; and his two daughters, Ashley and Kimberly.
