{"id":546373,"date":"2026-01-27T08:02:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T08:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/546373\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T08:02:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T08:02:13","slug":"weekend-nbc-new-york-mainstay-produce-pete-dead-at-80","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/546373\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekend NBC New York mainstay ‘Produce Pete’ dead at 80"},"content":{"rendered":"

Longtime NBC New York television personality \u201cProduce Pete\u201d has died. He was 80 years old. <\/p>\n

\u201cSad news to share from the NBC New York family \u2026 Produce Pete has passed away at 80. His warmth, kindness, and love for his work will be missed by all of us,\u201d Steven Bognar, the Managing Editor of | WNBC-TV, announced on X Monday. <\/a><\/p>\n

Peter Napolitano, an iconic grocer hailing from Bergenfield, New Jersey,\u00a0appeared on Saturday editions of \u201cWeekend Today in New York\u201d for over 30 years, delivering segments on fruits, vegetables, and cooking tips. <\/p>\n

\""ProduceNBC New York television personality \u201cProduce Pete,\u201d whose real name was Peter Napolitano, has died at 80. NBC New York<\/p>\n

Napolitano, known by his moniker \u201cProduce Pete,\u201d often spoke in his segments about his childhood in Englewood, where he worked as a peddler for his dad and sold produce at his family\u2019s store, Napolitano\u2019s Produce. He helped grow the small store into a New Jersey destination, serving customers for over 50 years.<\/p>\n

The cause of his death is not immediately known.<\/p>\n

\u201cI come from immigrant people. My father came here from Italy. No education, no nothing. And then, you know, I got lucky 35 years ago when someone was in my store and put me on a local show,\u201d Napolitano said during a 2025 appearance on the TODAY show. <\/p>\n

Known for his catchphrase, \u201cIf you eat right, you\u2019re going to live right!\u201d Napolitano also authored multiple books, including \u201cThey Call Me Produce Pete\u201d published in 2023, about his life striving to achieve the American dream.<\/p>\n

Napolitano also hosted cooking classes at D\u2019Agostino, King\u2019s Culinary Arts, Macy\u2019s, and Bloomingdale\u2019s. He was also a guest speaker at numerous elementary and high schools where he spoke healthy eating and his love for produce, according to his website.<\/p>\n

\""ProducePeter Napolitano, an iconic grocer hailing from Bergenfield, New Jersey,\u00a0appeared on Saturday editions of \u201cWeekend Today in New York\u201d for over 30 years. NBC New York<\/p>\n

\u201cFor more than 30 years, WNBC viewers tuned in on Saturday mornings to watch \u2018Produce Pete\u2019 offer his fruit and vegetables recommendations as well as cooking tips on \u2018Weekend Today in New York,\u201d Amy Morris, the Senior Vice President of News for NBC 4 New York and Telemundo 47, said in an obituary posted by the outlet. <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a beloved member of our station family, and our viewers felt the same way \u2014 visiting him at our Health Expo, our Feeding our Families Food Drives, or the many farmers markets across New Jersey where he always felt right at home,\u201d Morris added.<\/p>\n

Napolitano is survived by his wife, Bette, whom he met as a teenager, his two children and his seven grandchildren.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Longtime NBC New York television personality \u201cProduce Pete\u201d has died. He was 80 years old. \u201cSad news to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":546374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,397,1899,223108,398,5248,1030,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,11656,593,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,240288],"class_list":{"0":"post-546373","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-broadcast-journalism","10":"tag-celebrity-deaths","11":"tag-cooking-shows","12":"tag-media","13":"tag-metro","14":"tag-nbc","15":"tag-new-york","16":"tag-new-york-city","17":"tag-newyork","18":"tag-newyorkcity","19":"tag-ny","20":"tag-nyc","21":"tag-obits","22":"tag-obituaries","23":"tag-united-states","24":"tag-united-states-of-america","25":"tag-unitedstates","26":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","27":"tag-us","28":"tag-usa","29":"tag-wnbc"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115966020388932582","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}