Beloved New York Post photographer Ellis Kaplan dead at 78: ‘Quintessential son of Queens’
NY Post
Ellis Kaplan, a quirky and beloved veteran New York Post shutterbug who made Queens courts his unrivaled turf during a spectacular four-decade career, has died.
He was 78.
Kaplan was found dead earlier this week in the same Jamaica, Queens apartment he lived in since 1963, and where he once cared for his mother before she died at the age of 101, recalled longtime colleagues and friends.
He joined The Post in 1981 and soon became a mainstay in his home borough, where he knew just about every judge, prosecutor, court officer and lawyer.
“Ellis Kaplan had the Queens courthouse wired,” recalled Post reporter Kevin Sheehan.
“When there was a press office [at the courthouse], judges would stop by and tell Ellis, ‘I have a great story for you.’ I never saw any other press rooms where judges would walk in and tell photographers they have a great story.”
