Born in Queens, New York, Altimari attended St. Francis College in Brooklyn.

During this period, he also was a law professor at St. Francis College from 1954 to 1963, and served on the school board in Westbury, New York from 1963 to 1965.

[1] Altimari's judicial career began when he was elected to the Nassau County District Court in 1965.

[1] Altimari was nominated by President Reagan on October 23, 1985, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated by Judge Ellsworth Van Graafeiland.

His service terminated on July 19, 1998, due to his death of brain cancer in Old Westbury, New York.