Babylon Weekend Briefing: The AG Report on Babylon Schools, a Fire at Tricia’s, and a Life Sentence in the Gilgo Case

Accountability · Babylon Village

After a five-year investigation, the Attorney General says Babylon schools failed students for decades

The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James has concluded a nearly five-year civil rights investigation into the Babylon Union Free School District, and its findings are hard reading for this community. In a three-page letter to Babylon residents, signed by First Deputy Attorney General Meghan Faux, the office concluded that the district repeatedly failed to respond to allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct by educators, going back decades.

Investigators conducted nearly 100 interviews and reviewed thousands of pages of documents. They found, in the letter’s words, that the district’s failures “created an environment in the Junior-Senior High School in which educator misconduct proliferated with impunity.”

One finding stands out. Rather than trusting the district to act, the letter says, “generations of parents and students resorted to a whisper network of warnings about certain educators.” Parents asked to have their children moved out of certain classrooms. Students learned which adults to avoid. The Attorney General’s office found that students came to treat the possibility of harassment as an uncomfortable but unavoidable part of going to school, and that some who did report what happened to them faced retaliation afterward.

The investigation was announced in November 2021, after an educator was removed from a classroom and a number of female students came forward. What followed is still fresh here: former students describing a teacher’s conduct as an “open secret,” a packed and contentious Board of Education meeting, and hundreds of Babylon students walking out of class in protest the next day.

The office concluded the district did not meet its obligations under Title IX, New York’s Dignity for All Students Act, and the New York State Human Rights Law.

Superintendent Carisa Manza responded on Wednesday, condemning the conduct former students described. “That conduct is despicable, and it has no place in any school,” she said. Manza said that under a new administration and Board of Education the district has spent five years rebuilding, pointing to revised policies on adult-student relationships, a partnership with the Crime Victims Center, anonymous reporting procedures, a Citizens Advisory Committee, Title IX training for administrators, a full-time human resources director who also serves as Title IX and Dignity Act coordinator, and an outside monitor reviewing compliance.

Here is where it stands. Investigators presented their findings and a proposed set of reforms to the district’s lawyers in August 2025. The district has adopted some changes but, as of this letter, has not agreed to a final resolution. The Attorney General’s office says it intends to keep negotiating, and that a full public report — laying out how the district’s failures harmed students and their families — is expected before the end of 2026.

That report is the thing to watch. Everything above is the summary letter; the detailed findings are still to come.

Sources: Patch · Newsday · News 12 Long Island

Courts · Gilgo Beach

Rex Heuermann sentenced to life after admitting to eight murders

Rex Heuermann was sentenced to life in prison on Friday, after admitting responsibility for the deaths of eight women. We reported his guilty plea last week; this is the end of the court process that followed it. There will be no trial.

For families who waited more than a decade, the sentencing is a conclusion but not a comfort. The women at the center of this case were someone’s daughter, someone’s mother, someone’s friend, and they deserve to be remembered as people rather than as a case name.

For the Town of Babylon, the case has always been close to home — Gilgo is our stretch of shoreline, and the search for answers shaped how a generation of South Shore residents thought about those beaches. As the Long Island Press argued this week, the lasting question is whether the institutional lessons of Gilgo actually get learned, or quietly shelved now that the case is closed.

Sources: Fox Baltimore · Long Island Press

Neighborhood Lifelines · Babylon Village

A fire closes Tricia’s American Cafe indefinitely

A fire broke out early Wednesday morning at Tricia’s American Cafe at 26 E. Main St. in Babylon Village, and the restaurant announced the same day that it will close indefinitely. The family posted the news on social media along with photos of fire trucks outside and the damage within.

Tricia’s has been on East Main since 1997 — nearly three decades — run by Tricia, Dave and their sons, and known for burgers, wings, wraps, seafood and a 1950s room that a lot of Babylon kids grew up in. The cause of the fire, the extent of the damage and whether anyone was hurt were not immediately released, and no reopening date has been given.

The response from the village was immediate and loud, which is what happens when a place has fed people for twenty-nine years. The restaurant says it will share updates as it learns more.

If you are one of the many people asking what you can do: watch their channels for word, and when they say how to help, help. A Main Street that loses an anchor does not get it back automatically.

Source: Patch

Courts · Babylon

Yonkers man gets 18 years for stabbing a man in the neck at a Babylon home

Robert Brozowski pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 years for stabbing a man in the neck at a Babylon home, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office. A patrol officer spotted his truck heading north on Deer Park Avenue before it entered the westbound Southern State Parkway.

Reporting on the case notes a prior record in New York that includes a 2014 conviction for second-degree reckless endangerment, a 2015 charge of driving while ability impaired by alcohol, and a third-degree assault conviction.

Sources: Patch · Greater Long Island

Heads Up · Town of Babylon

The Town is warning residents about a fake-invoice email scam

The Town of Babylon has warned residents about fraudulent emails that display the Town of Babylon seal and claim to be invoices. The seal is the whole trick — it is what makes a scam email look like a bill you forgot about.

The simple rule: the Town does not email you an invoice out of the blue. If something arrives claiming you owe the Town money, do not click the link or open the attachment. Call the Town directly using a number you look up yourself, not one printed in the email. Then tell your neighbors, because these go out in batches and the people most likely to pay are the ones least likely to see a warning like this.

Source: News 12 Long Island

Community · Town of Babylon

A cape, a community, and 500 red bows

Students, prevention coalitions and elected officials gathered at Babylon Town Hall for the annual Red Ribbon Town Hall, the youth-led event marking Red Ribbon Week and drug-free communities. The young people ran it, which is the entire point.

Five hundred red bows went up around the Town, and local businesses pitched in — the Little Flower Shop of Lindenhurst among those thanked by name. It is the kind of week that does not make headlines anywhere else and absolutely should here.

Sources: Patch · Patch

Sports · West Babylon

West Babylon boys soccer reaches its first Suffolk semifinal since 1999

Goals from Sebastian Lens and Owen Blair sent the No. 4 West Babylon boys soccer team past No. 5 East Islip in a Suffolk Class AA quarterfinal at home, and into the county semifinals for the first time since 1999.

Twenty-seven years is a long drought. This team ended it on their own field.

Sources: Newsday · Newsday photo gallery

Courts · North Babylon

A former North Babylon assistant principal is suing the district

Richard Del Gaudio, a former North Babylon assistant principal, is suing the district, alleging he was moved into what his suit describes as “dungeon-like working conditions” — made to work in storage — after he spoke publicly.

These are allegations in a lawsuit that has not been tested in court, and the district has not been found to have done anything. We will follow where it goes.

Source: Newsday

Community · Lindenhurst

The Town honors Lindenhurst’s mayor and the Brumidi Lodge

The Town of Babylon honored Lindenhurst Mayor Mike Lavorata and the Sons and Daughters of Italy’s Costantino Brumidi Lodge, recognizing the lodge’s work in the community.

Source: Patch

Quick Hits

A West Babylon crash brings a DWI charge. A Mercedes struck a utility pole in West Babylon, seriously injuring an 18-year-old woman who was a passenger. Jairon Velasquez, 20, has been charged with driving while intoxicated. He has not been convicted. Patch · Daily Voice

North Babylon High School played the Newsday Marching Band Festival. Photos from the 2026 festival performance. Newsday

Lindenhurst students ran a leadership event on everyday superheroes. A student-led program about the ordinary kind of superpower. Patch

A new state law covers the West Babylon Volunteer Firemen’s Benevolent Association. The Governor signed legislation concerning the association’s powers and duties around the collection of insurance premium taxes. Bloomberg Tax

A multi-state crew hit the Deer Park Sephora. Roughly $16,000 in cosmetics taken in about five minutes, with two more Sephora locations hit afterward. Lake and McHenry County Scanner

Babylon Dental Care has a new director for its pediatric and orthodontic services. The West Babylon practice announced the hire of Kristy Roocke. Press release

Shop-local season

Halloween’s over, and shop-local season starts tomorrow

From November 1 through New Year’s Day, Babylon Local is shining a light on the shops, restaurants and makers that make our town feel like home. Watch for our Black Friday and holiday picks and local deals, then shop close to home. Own a local business? Reply to our email to get featured.

Making weekend plans?

It is Halloween, and the clocks go back on Sunday morning — you get the hour you lost in March. Our events guide has the whole weekend, trick-or-treating and all.

See This Weekend’s Events →

Remembering our neighbors

Our condolences to the families and friends of neighbors we lost this week.

Wendy Rachel Triquet, West Babylon
Carlo Jerome, Deer Park
Frank Aprea, West Babylon

What we are watching next

• The Attorney General’s full public report on the Babylon school district, expected before the end of 2026 — and whether the district agrees to the proposed reforms.
• Whether Tricia’s American Cafe can come back, and what the damage assessment finds.
• West Babylon boys soccer in the Suffolk Class AA semifinal.
• Whether the fake-invoice emails using the Town seal keep circulating.

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