What To Know: Babylon Town's (Rescheduled) 150th Anniversary Parade

TOWN OF BABYLON, NY — The Town of Babylon's 150th Anniversary Parade will take place on Sunday, after it was rescheduled due to inclement weather in October.

The parade will take place at 2 p.m. line up between Dixon Avenue and the Long Island Railroad Station in Copiague.

It will travel through Great Neck Road and turn slightly west through Montauk Highway and end at Tanner Park.

Town Historian Mary Cascone told Patch that observers can expect similar spectacles in the parade's original date, but with slight changes.

For example, the Town had secured 10 floats for its original Oct. 2, 2022 date. On Sunday, the parade will have 13 floats, which will all represent its 10 hamlets and three incorporated villages: 13 municipalities that make up the town: Amityville, Deer Park, Lindenhurst, North Lindenhurst, North Amityville, North Babylon, West Babylon, Wheatley Heights, Copiague, East Farmingdale, Wyandanch, and Barrier Beaches.

The North Lindenhurst and Lindenhurst floats were originally separate, but will join together as one, Cascone said. The 13th float will represent the Town of Babylon itself.

More than 60 community groups, or about 1,100 to 1,200 people, will walk in the parade. Mayor Mary Adams and town trustees will also participate.

A 1953 Town of Babylon replica police car, also driven in 1972, will lead the parade. It will be driven by Commissioner of Public Safety Gerard Gigante. In addition, classic cars will drive along the parade route.

Cascone said the "best place" for spectators to view the parade is along Great Neck Road, between Oak Street on the north and Montauk highway.

After so much planning, it was "not an easy decision" to rescheduling the parade.

"We had to cancel last minute because of the hurricane," she said. "We're not afraid of water, but we worried about the wind."

Putting on a parade at the beginning of October is different from the end of April, Cascone said.

In October, five school marching bands were to play in the event. Due to school schedules and NYSMA, only two marching bands will perform.

Also, more people are expected to patron Tanner Park in April due to the warmer weather.

"I will give full credit to our town parks department, our highway department, they've helped to figure out those things," Cascone said.

Town History

The Town of Babylon was officially established in 1872, after residents voted to separate from the Town of Huntington.

"Old Huntington, you know, would have stretched from the Long Island Sound down to the Great South Bay," said Cascone. "That was a pretty good-sized town."

Compared to other Long Island town's histories, Babylon is significantly young. The Town of Huntington was established in 1663.

"If you ever look at the 10 towns in Suffolk County, and you see the list of when they're created, everybody's 1600, this 1700 that, and it's like what happened to Babylon?" said Cascone.

Babylon's residents were part of a "small country community" that was respectful to "the north side" but wanted to create their own town.

However, "the town of Babylon as we know it" started to form around World War II.

Thanks to grants from the 1944 G.I. Bill, the town underwent a "population explosion," and many veterans and families moved to the town and its surrounding areas.

"The increased population brings the houses, which brings the families which means you need the schools, which means you need the roads, you need the businesses for them to shop at and the places for them to work," said Cascone.

To finally celebrate how much the town has come in 150 years, Cascone said, is a joyous thing.

Although planning a parade no easy feat, the support of the town and community makes the event worthwhile.

"Thankfully, I have some people that I work with who keep the excitement up," said Cascone. "I'm always about what is the list of what we have to do. But there has been so much excitement that it's actually rubbed off on me. So I'm looking forward to seeing it."