NY Post Sports Photographer Anthony Causi Dies Of CCP Virus Aged 48

Photographers cover the game between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City on Sept. 17, 2008. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Anthony Causi, a longtime photographer for The New York Post, passed away on April 12 aged 48 after contracting the CCP (which stands for Chinese Communist Party) virus.

Causi, a Brooklyn native, was famous for taking photos of the New York Yankees, Giants, Mets, Jets, Nets, and Knicks.

Having captured some of the most iconic moments in New York sports, he is perhaps most famous for his capturing of Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera leaving the bullpen at Yankee Stadium to a roaring crowd toward the end of his career.

Steve Lynch, The Post’s editor in chief said in a statement, “Anthony Causi was our colleague, our friend, and a brilliant journalist. He was, quite simply, one of the best sports photographers in New York City, capturing all the major moments of the past 25 years. Soft-spoken, funny, but most of all kind—he was respected by those he photographed and admired by those with whom he worked.”

“The Post that you read, and the newsroom that we work in, are less colorful today because of his absence,” Lynch added. “Our hearts go out to his family, and we share their grief.”

The photographer, an alumnus of Pace University, joined the post as a photo messenger in 1994 before becoming a photo editor and full-time photojournalist.

He passed away at North Shore University Hospital and leaves behind his wife Romina Seferian-Causi, and their two young children, John and Mia.

Three weeks before his death, Causi shared an Instagram post of himself in hospital hooked up to a ventilator as he battled with the disease. He wrote, “I never thought I would get something like this. I thought I was indestructible. If I do make it out of here. I promise you this the worlds not going to know what hit it.”

It was his final post on the social networking service.

Tributes have flooded in for Causi following the news of his death.

Jeff Wilpon, COO of the New York Mets in a statement said Causi was a “charismatic photographer who bought fans closer to the action with his breathtaking images of the Mets.”

“More importantly, he was a friend to so many of us through his numerous spring trainings in Port. St Lucie as well as being a fixture at Citi Field. Our heartfelt condolences to his wife, Romina, son, John, daughter Mia and the entire family,” Wilpon wrote.

The Knicks organization also paid tribute in a tweet saying Causi “was a fixture at the Garden and one of the best photographers in the business. He was a warm person with a great personality and will be missed.”

As of April 13, there are 560,433 confirmed cases of CCP virus in the United States, while 22,115 deaths in the country have been attributed to the SARS-like disease, which originated in Wuhan, China, in at least December last year.