Ernie Anastos dies of pneumonia after urging people to stand up for truth in last message

Tributes started pouring in for Ernie Anastos after his wife said the legendary New York City television news anchor died on Thursday. He was 82.

Anastos's wife, Kelly, said he died early Thursday morning of pneumonia at Northern Westchester Hospital. 

Shortly after news of his death emerged online, the last video of Ernie Anastos urging people to stand up for truth started gaining traction among fans.

In his video posted on March 4 the anchor said : "The subject is truth and that's what people are looking for. It's not easy these days. There's so many different platforms people can watch the news on and people wonder is it news or views. That's a whole different topic. I really just want to mention the fact that truth is so important in life. it gives us a sense of order and decency and we need truth for our relationships with our family with our friends and our workplace, certainly in the political world." 

"If there was a Mount Rushmore for news anchors in New York, Ernie would be one of the four faces," CBS News New York's Tony Aiello said. 

"He worked at four stations. He paired well with every co-anchor they ever put him with because he was such a pro."