Armand Miele, longtime Rockland County Times publisher - recently publisher emeritus - businessman and real estate developer, and influential voice in Rockland politics died on Tuesday, March 5. He was 84.
Miele was principal owner of the Rockland County Times since 1998, moving the offices to downtown Nanuet, where his real estate office was located. During his tenure the newspaper became the only county-wide weekly newspaper with a paid circulation and one well-known for breaking inside stories on Rockland politics.
As a public voice he led a movement to remove the Ramapo toll from the New York State Thruway, headed a project with then-Legislator Frank Fornario, R-Orangetown, to speed up and cut costs on the Rockland County Courthouse construction, long fought against MTA taxes and the authority’s jurisdiction over Rockland County, and helped to form the Village of Montebello, among many other accomplishments.
In the 1990s, Miele ran for state Assembly and town supervisor and was the 1997 Right to Life candidate for Rockland County county executive.
In 2011, he was named Italian-American of the Year by the Rockland County Columbus Association and released a memoir “Born Minus: From Shoeshine Boy to News Publisher, an Italian-American Journey,” which included his life story and dozens of his popular Miele’s Musings editorials from the Rockland County Times.
During his career as a developer Miele built up much of Main Street in Nanuet and many notable projects in the Bronx, where he was born and came of age.
Miele had been suffering from various ailments and spent his final days with family at his home in Montebello.
Calling hours for Armand Miele are set for Sunday at Scarr Funeral Home in Suffern, 2-4 and 7-9 p.m., 160 Orange Ave., Suffern.
A funeral mass is set at the Church of the Presentation, Upper Saddle River, NJ, for Monday, March 11 at 11 a.m., 271 W. Saddle River Rd., Upper Saddle River, NJ. Burial will be at Church of St. Anthony, 36 West Nyack Road, Nanuet.
Armand Miele’s life was touched by many wonderful people in the health care profession. In lieu of flowers, the family invites you to donate to the University of Pittsburg Medical Center, to cancer prevention and research, or to the charity of your choice.
