Ted Sasso, a longtime Long Island real estate leader and public servant, died on Dec. 13. He was 81.
Sasso, a Brookville resident and former village trustee, who was born on Nov. 19, 1944. began his real estate career in 1963, working for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as a real estate representative, according to his bio posted online.
“Ted Sasso was a warm-hearted, kind and gentle man. A pleasure to work with, he was always willing to listen and talk, always had a smile,” Marlene McDonnell, an administrator for the Long Island Business Development Council, said in a statement.
Over the years, Sasso held executive leadership positions at major real estate firms, including Cushman & Wakefield, CB Richard Ellis, and later as president of Sasso Realty and executive vice president of Knight Properties, where he oversaw financing, acquisitions, dispositions and institutional development deals, his bio said.
He also previously served at several Fortune 500 companies, including as the director of real estate for Macmillan and the manager of worldwide real estate for CBS. He had also served as a leasing agent for Rockefeller Center, his bio said.
He first joined the Long Island Business Development Council in 1976, serving as its co-chairman. By 1980, he helped launch Cushman & Wakefield’s first Long Island office, and he served as its manager. He went on to found Sasso & Fitzsimons, a firm that evolved into the Edward S. Gordon Company of Long Island and ultimately CB Richard Ellis, his bio said.
Sasso previously served as the chair of the Hempstead Industrial Development Agency, as a trustee in the Village of Brookville, as the village’s police commissioner, and as a trustee at the Henry Viscardi School, according to his published bio.
Sasso is also a member of the Long Island Business Development Council Hall of Fame.
He is survived by his wife, two daughters and one granddaughter.
