EXCLUSIVE · TOWN HALL NOTEBOOK · WEEK OF OCTOBER 19

Four Town boards meet in four nights this week, and each one posts its list in advance. We read them all. The biggest night, Thursday’s nine Zoning Board hearings, gets its own story. Here is the rest.

Monday: Planning Board. This board reviews site plans and subdivisions and weighs in on zone changes. Two public hearings were on Monday’s agenda. One was a request to split three lots into two at Broadhollow Road and Smith Street, Farmingdale, keeping an existing office building and gas station. The other was facade work, a raised roof and outdoor vehicle storage at an industrial building at Albany Avenue and Watkins Terrace, North Amityville. The longer list is the reserved calendar: projects already heard where the record is extended and the decision reserved. It includes a 4,620-square-foot automated car wash on Route 110 in North Amityville, a three-story self-storage building on Grand Boulevard, Deer Park, fourteen three-bedroom condominiums on Route 109, West Babylon, nine new houses on 45th Street, Copiague, and an indoor sports complex on Route 110, East Farmingdale.

Tuesday: Accessory Apartment Review Board. This board hears applications for accessory apartments under the Town’s accessory-apartment law. Five new applications were scheduled: two in West Babylon and one each in North Babylon, Copiague and Wyandanch. Renewals filed by affidavit did not have to appear.

Wednesday (tonight, 6 p.m.): Rental Review Board. It hears rental applications, both new and renewal. There are five new ones: two in Copiague and one each in Wyandanch, Deer Park and West Babylon, the last filed by a company, JJ & WC Inc., on Lexington Avenue. There is one renewal, in Wheatley Heights.

Next Thursday, October 29: Zoning Board of Appeals, again. Five applications are on the list. E&R Property Group LLC wants to keep a second-floor addition and basement entrance on Deauville Boulevard, Copiague. SKMA Enterprises LLC wants to keep a side addition and second-story balconies on Shore Drive, Copiague. A homeowner on Foster Boulevard, North Babylon wants to add a second story and a front porch. The other two are sign renewals. Leon Petroleum LLC wants a 19-foot-6-inch sign with a 36-square-foot price panel kept at 1501 Straight Path, Wyandanch. 641 Wellwood Avenue LLC asks the same for a 16-foot-7-inch ground sign at 49th Street and North Wellwood Avenue. Both current approvals run into 2027.

The apartment, rental and zoning hearings all meet at 6 p.m. in the East Wing board room of Town Hall, 200 East Sunrise Highway, Lindenhurst. They are public hearings, open to anyone who wants to be heard.

Sources: Planning Board agenda, Oct. 19 · Accessory Apartment Review Board, Oct. 20 · Rental Review Board, Oct. 21 · Zoning Board of Appeals, Oct. 29 · Town of Babylon Agenda Center

COMMUNITY · WYANDANCH

For more than 40 years, the Mercy Soup Kitchen has done the same thing every day in Wyandanch: cooked, served and cleaned up after a meal for anyone who came through the door. On a typical day that is about 150 people.

On Sunday, October 18, that stopped.

A fire broke out at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, the soup kitchen’s home, abc7NY reported. Church leaders told the station it started near an exterior door and spread into the building, damaging the kitchen and the church offices. Firefighters from Deer Park, Wyandanch, North Babylon and West Babylon put it out, according to Newsday, and officials said no one was hurt.

The soup kitchen is closed for now, and nobody can yet say for how long.

“I couldn’t sleep at all last night. There’s just such a tremendous job ahead of us,” Vito Colletti, the soup kitchen’s president, told the station.

The pastor, David Anglada, said the loss is hard because so many families depend on it. “This ministry is significant. It provides food for many families here in Wyandanch, so we are heartbroken we can’t do what we do on a daily basis here,” he said.

There is a second, quieter problem. The electricity has been shut off while the damage is assessed, and volunteers are worried about the food that was stored inside.

The work has not stopped completely. While professionals inspect the building and work out what has to be repaired, the volunteers are handing out sandwiches. Colletti described the people behind the kitchen as the kind who wash pots for hours, who love to cook and love to serve. A man who once ate there and later volunteered told the station the neighborhood needs the place badly.

If you want to help: the church says it needs money, not food or clothing, because right now it cannot store donated food or clothing. The reports do not say how to give. As soon as the church or the soup kitchen publishes a way to donate, we will add it here.

There is no timeline yet for reopening.

Sources: abc7NY, “Wyandanch church fire shuts down soup kitchen serving 150 people a day,” October 19, 2026 · Newsday, “Fire in Wyandanch church forces closure of soup kitchen,” October 19, 2026

ASK A LOCAL

Q: I would rather not stand in line on a Tuesday. Where can I vote early, and when?

Early voting for the November 3 general election starts this Saturday, October 24, and runs nine days, through Sunday, November 1.

The best part: in Suffolk you are not tied to one building. The Board of Elections says you can vote early at any one of the county’s 28 early-voting locations. Three of them are in the Town of Babylon. Here they are, as the Board lists them:

Babylon Town Hall Annex, 281 Phelps Lane, North Babylon NY 11703. In the gym.

North Amityville Fire Dept, 601 Broadway, Amityville NY 11701. Upstairs meeting room.

Wyandanch Public Library, 14 S 20th Street, Wyandanch NY 11798. In the auditorium.

Just over the town line, the list also has the Dix Hills Fire Department, 115 E Deer Park Road, Dix Hills, and the West Islip Senior Center, 90 Higbie Lane, West Islip.

The hours change during the week, so check before you go:

Sat. Oct. 24, Sun. Oct. 25, Mon. Oct. 26: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Tue. Oct. 27, Wed. Oct. 28: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Thu. Oct. 29, Fri. Oct. 30: noon to 8 p.m.

Sat. Oct. 31, Sun. Nov. 1: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The early-morning days are Tuesday and Wednesday. The after-work days are Thursday and Friday.

Not registered yet? The state deadline to get a registration in for this election is also Saturday, October 24. Under state rules, your application has to be received by the board of elections by that date.

Not sure you are registered, or where you vote on Election Day? The state’s voter lookup shows your registration and your assigned poll site. Choose Suffolk and enter your name, date of birth and address. On November 3 you vote at that assigned site, and the polls are open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

One more thing you will notice: Suffolk switched to new touchscreen ExpressVote XL machines this year.

Questions go to the Suffolk County Board of Elections in Yaphank, (631) 852-4500.

Got a question about living in the Town of Babylon? Send it to us and we will chase the answer down.

Sources: Suffolk County Board of Elections, “2026 General Locations and Timings” · Suffolk County Board of Elections · NYS Board of Elections, Early Voting · NYS Board of Elections, Registration and Voting Deadlines

THE WEEKEND AHEAD · HALLOWEEN

Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, so the season gets ten days. The best of it from the I Love Babylon calendar, weekend first.

THIS WEEKEND

Long Island Family Festival, Friday to Sunday, Tanner Park, Copiague. Rained out in September, the Copiague Chamber of Commerce’s festival is back on the bay: Friday 6 to 10 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Carnival rides, live music, an art, craft and gift show, and the Long Island Pet Expo. The listing says admission is free. Details

Rotary Club Pups on Parade, Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to noon, Lindenhurst Village Square Park and Gazebo, 116 N. Wellwood Ave. The Lindenhurst Rotary’s dog parade. No price listed. Details

NYSF Spooky Happenings Market, Saturday, noon to 4 p.m., 759 Long Island Ave., Deer Park. More than 100 vendors, live music, food trucks and puppy adoptions. Free. Details

Lindy Cares Trick or Trunk, Saturday, 5 to 7 p.m., back at the Village Square in Lindenhurst. The Village’s trunk-or-treat for children. No price listed. Details

Trunk or Treat and Breast Cancer Walk, Sunday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., James A. Caples Memorial Park, 398 S. Bay View Ave., Amityville, run by the Amityville Teachers Association. No price listed. Details

Creepy Crawl, Sunday, noon to 3 p.m., downtown Babylon Village. The Village Chamber’s Halloween walk through participating shops, with a tote and map from registration. It ends at the Babylon Public Library, 24 S. Carll Ave., where the free Monster Mash Dance Party runs 1 to 4 p.m., no registration. Details

HALLOWEEN WEEK

Halloween Bash, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 5 to 6:30 p.m., Lindenhurst Memorial Library, 1 Lee Ave. Games, crafts, dancing and the Haunted SLED walkthrough in the library’s backyard. Free. Details

Amityville Music Hall, 198 Broadway, for the grown-ups: Shrek Rave: Swamp-O-Ween, Thursday, Oct. 29, 9 p.m., 18 and over, $26.99 to $56.99; and the Halloween Cover Show, Friday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m., $21, with local bands playing as classic hardcore and punk acts.

The little-kid parades, all free. Friday, Oct. 30 at 11 a.m.: the North Babylon Public Library concert and parade, and West Babylon Public Library’s costume parade for ages 1 to 5 at 211 Route 109. Saturday, Oct. 31 at 11:30 a.m.: the Copiague Memorial Public Library parade, then pizza and a cartoon. Check each library for registration.

Trunk or Treat at Simpson UMC, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2 to 4 p.m., 30 Locust Ave., Amityville. All welcome. No price listed. Details

Frankenstein, Saturday, Oct. 31, Studio Theatre Long Island, 141 S. Wellwood Ave., Lindenhurst. A Halloween bonus performance of Tim Kelly’s adaptation. No curtain time or price listed; check with the theater. Details

And tomorrow night: the Wyandanch Public Library’s free Halloween Horror Movie Night, Thursday, Oct. 22, 5 to 7:30 p.m., for teens and adults.

Source: I Love Babylon events calendar, October 22 to 31, 2026

DO SOMETHING THIS WEEK

Four things, all free, none longer than an evening. Two are at Babylon Town Hall, 200 E. Sunrise Highway, Lindenhurst.

1. Friday, October 23, 6:30 p.m. — the Red Ribbon Town Hall. The Town’s kickoff for National Red Ribbon Week is in the Town Board Room at Town Hall. The flyer calls it a youth town hall, “Giving Youth a Voice,” and the Town promises vendors, resources and activities for families on substance-misuse awareness. Wear red; the Town asks attendees to. The flyer carries the logos of the local prevention coalitions, including Town of Babylon Cares, Lindy Cares, Copiague Community Cares and the Deer Park Drug Prevention Coalition. One note on the date: the Town’s announcement says “Friday, October 24,” but the 24th is a Saturday. The Town’s flyer says October 23, which is the Friday, and that is the date we are going with. We printed the 24th last week, and we were wrong. Town announcement.

2. Any day — the Little Free Pantries in Lindenhurst. Lindenhurst Memorial Library has two Little Free Pantries in its back parking lot, plus a Little Free Pet Pantry. Non-perishable food can be placed directly in them. While you are inside, the library is swapping new or gently used board games and puzzles through December 30. Lindenhurst Memorial Library.

3. Friday, October 30, 6:30 p.m. — Veterans Awareness Week begins. Councilman DuWayne Gregory, who chairs the Town’s Veterans Advisory Board, and Assemblyman Kwani B. O’Pharrow are hosting the kickoff in the Town Board Room. The winners of the student essay contest will read their essays there. The flyer’s invitation is to honor veterans and show appreciation for what they gave. Questions go to Councilman Gregory’s office at 631-957-3127. Town flyer (PDF).

And one more, when it is possible. The Mercy Soup Kitchen in Wyandanch, which feeds about 150 people a day, is closed after Sunday’s fire at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church. The church is asking for money, not goods, but has not yet published a way to give. We will add one when it does.

Sources: Town of Babylon, “National Red Ribbon Week Kicks Off!,” October 7, 2026 · Red Ribbon Town Hall flyer · Town of Babylon announcements · Veterans Awareness Week flyer · Lindenhurst Memorial Library, “Swaps, Recycling, and Donation Drives”

HOMETOWN SPORTS

The Suffolk County Marathon begins in the Village of Babylon. On Sunday, the man who won it lives just up the road.

Daniel Cameron, 28, of North Babylon, won the 26.2-mile race on Sunday, October 18, in 2:41:59, according to the official results. That is a pace of 6:11 a mile, and it put him eight minutes ahead of the runner-up, Stephen Bienemann of Smithtown (2:50:00).

The course crosses the Robert Moses Causeway and finishes at Gardiner County Park in Bay Shore. Cameron told Newsday he took the lead immediately and kept it.

It was his fourth marathon and his first win, Newsday reported. The results show how far he came in a year: in 2025 he finished seventh here, in 3:04:48. This time he was almost 23 minutes faster, a personal record.

Cameron was an All-American in the 4x800 relay at West Islip High, then stepped away from running through college and graduate school. He came back about three years ago, pushed by his grandfather, Edward Hynes, who ran 29 marathons; they talk after every long run. By day he is a bioinformatician at NYU Langone. Next up: Boston, in the spring.

Two more Town of Babylon runners finished in the top ten: Dean Mauri of Amityville was fourth (2:51:00) and Andy Moncada of West Babylon was ninth (2:58:57).

Football · West Babylon. West Babylon lost 28–19 at East Hampton on Saturday, October 17, the Bonackers’ homecoming. Down 14–0, the Eagles answered with a 22-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jahavi Reyes to junior receiver Jadiel Adames, then a 48-yard interception return by Jacob Almanzar. Reyes pushed in on fourth-and-goal to make it 21–19, but East Hampton scored the last touchdown.

Boys soccer · North Babylon. North Babylon needed a draw against Ward Melville on Monday, October 19, to make the Suffolk Class AAA playoffs. On Senior Day, it won 2–0. Junior midfielder Wildano Jeudy scored both goals and goalkeeper Gianluca Turano kept the clean sheet, Newsday reported. The Bulldogs are 7–5–3 in coach Jack Fengler’s first season and close the regular season at Copiague.

Also: Deer Park boys soccer beat Northport 1–0 to clinch a third straight playoff berth, Patch reported Tuesday. Lindenhurst girls soccer lost 2–0 at Connetquot on Monday despite 10 saves from keeper Natalia Pacholska.

Sources: Suffolk County Marathon official results · Newsday, “Daniel Cameron of North Babylon wins Suffolk Marathon,” Oct. 19, 2026 · 27east, “Tested at Homecoming, East Hampton Wins Out,” Oct. 19, 2026 · Newsday, North Babylon vs. Ward Melville, Oct. 19, 2026 · Patch, Oct. 20, 2026

BABYLON EATS

The best doughnuts on Long Island, according to Long Islanders, do not come from a bakery. They come out of a fryer on a truck from Wyandanch.

Dilly Dilly Donuts NY was voted Best Doughnuts on Long Island in the 2026 FourLeaf Best of Long Island, the Long Island Press reported on October 14. The Wyandanch business beat Duck Donuts, which won the category in 2025.

It is run by owners Hadria and Rich Montilla, and the trick is in the timing. The doughnuts are minis, made to order and fried hot on site, then topped with cinnamon crunch, maple glaze, fruity cereal, chocolate, powdered sugar, or seasonal fruit preserves.

The truck works local festivals, private parties and community gatherings, so finding it takes a little more effort than finding a shop. The Press lists the business in Wyandanch at (646) 412-5631 and online at dillydillydonuts.com.

Heroes in North Babylon, this weekend. Uncle Giuseppe’s Marketplace launched a food truck this month for its 25th anniversary and Italian Heritage Month, and its tour is scheduled to stop in North Babylon on October 23, 24 and 25, serving sausage-and-pepper heroes, according to Greater Long Island. The announcement did not give a street location, so check Uncle Giuseppe’s before you go.

A pink drink in Babylon. For Breast Cancer Awareness Month, The Pizzeria created the Raspberry Ribbon: raspberry tea-infused vodka, limoncello, fresh lemon juice and simple syrup. It is on the menu through October at its Babylon location, among four, and $2 from each one goes to Making Strides of Long Island. Co-founder Cliff Weinstein told Greater Long Island that cancer has touched families in the community, including his own.

Sources: Long Island Press, October 14, 2026 · Greater Long Island, October 5, 2026 · Greater Long Island, October 5, 2026

OPEN / CLOSED · TOWN OF BABYLON

Three changes this week: a coffee shop that is moving, a restaurant that might lose its landlord on purpose, and a corner of Farmingdale that has been dark since winter.

MOVING · Babylon Bean, Babylon Village. After 32 years at 17 Fire Island Ave., Babylon Bean is moving to 54 E. Main St., just east of Bunger Surf Shop, and plans to open there in time for the holiday season, Greater Long Island reported. Co-owner Kayla Belcher, who has worked with the business for 14 years and became an owner this year, said the new space is being fully renovated, with couches, plants and more room to sit. A new kitchen means breakfast and lunch: smash burgers, fries, grilled cheese and soups, with coffee flights in the works. Belcher was clear on one point. Babylon Bean is relocating, not closing. Equipment will move over gradually.

FOR SALE · Breakers Burrito Bar, Lindenhurst. The building at 147 S. Wellwood Ave. that houses Breakers has been listed for sale, according to Greater Long Island. Breakers comes from the Davis family behind Great South Bay Brewery and their partners, and the owners say they are not leaving. A sale could let them stay on as a tenant under a new landlord. In a statement they acknowledged complaints about food and service, and they asked residents to tell them what to fix at a community workshop planned for Tuesday, October 20. Breakers opened in April in the old Great South Bay Brewery space, inside a historic downtown bank building. Their words: “We’re asking for the opportunity to listen, improve, and earn that support back.”

SOLD · the former Hooters, Farmingdale. Long Island’s last Hooters, at 25 Smith St., announced in February that it was closing for good, News 12 reported. Now the property has a buyer. Bolla Oil, the company behind Bolla Market, closed on the former Hooters and the neighboring parcel at 27 Smith St., where Valley Bank still has time left on its lease, for $5.7 million, Newsday reported October 19, citing the buyer’s broker. Bolla’s chief development officer, Sean O’Neill, told Newsday nothing is planned yet for the old restaurant, a 0.76-acre parcel that is listed for lease as a built-out restaurant or cafe space. So, for now, nobody knows what will go there.

Opening, closing or moving a business in the Town of Babylon? Tell us, and we will check it and list it here.

Sources: Greater Long Island, “After 32 years, Babylon Bean is moving to a bigger Main Street space,” Oct. 15, 2026 · Greater Long Island, “Breakers property up for sale as owners acknowledge struggles in Lindenhurst,” Oct. 13, 2026 · Newsday, “Hooters’ last location on Long Island, in Farmingdale, sold to Bolla Oil,” Oct. 19, 2026 · News 12 Long Island, Feb. 16, 2026

FEATURED BUSINESS · DEER PARK

A chamber spotlight only works if someone keeps it lit. The Deer Park Chamber of Commerce invites people to its meetings to learn how to get featured in its Monthly Member Spotlight, and this month it put new ones up on its website.

The pick is EXIT Realty Enjoy, a full-service real estate brokerage that has just opened at 2001 Deer Park Avenue, Suite A.

The chamber’s October 11 post welcomes the office as its newest member. It says the brokerage serves clients across Long Island and the greater New York City area, and that the team behind it has more than three decades of experience in New York real estate. Its pitch, in the chamber’s summary, is personal representation over a one-size-fits-all approach: guidance, marketing, negotiation.

The opening came with a small official honor. According to the chamber, EXIT Realty Enjoy received a Certificate of Recognition from New York State Senator Martinez, recognizing the grand opening and the office’s commitment to serving the Town of Babylon.

The office’s own website lists the franchisee and broker of record as Newton Hinds III. It describes the office as handling residential and commercial real estate, with Deer Park as its home base and neighborhood pages for Amityville, Babylon, Lindenhurst and Farmingdale among others. The phone number is (631) 392-1700. The site does not post office hours, so call ahead before dropping by.

A real estate office is not a bakery. You will not wander in for a coffee. But a new storefront on Deer Park Avenue is a vote of confidence in the avenue, and a chamber that names its members is a chamber doing its job.

Elsewhere in the Town: the Amityville Chamber of Commerce has not named an October Business of the Month yet. Its most recent honoree is Imperial Cleaning, headquartered in Amityville, which the chamber recognized in September for more than 30 years of commercial and residential cleaning.

Is your chamber naming a business of the month? Send it to us and we will feature it here.

Sources: Deer Park Chamber of Commerce, “Community Member Spotlight: EXIT Realty Enjoy,” Oct. 11, 2026 · EXIT Realty Enjoy · Amityville Chamber of Commerce, Sept. 2026

SCHOOLS · WEST BABYLON

Most graduates come back to their old high school for a reunion or a football game. Vamsi Parikh came back with bananas and a needle.

Parikh graduated from West Babylon Senior High School in 2024. On October 6 he returned to Mrs. Prizzi’s Anatomy and Physiology classes, now as an undergraduate at Stony Brook University, with his research teammate Melody Touranant.

The two are on Stony Brook’s team for iGEM, the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition. Every year, undergraduate teams design their own synthetic biology project, work on it through the spring and summer, and then present it at the international iGEM Jamboree.

This year Stony Brook is working on biofilms, the layers bacteria build up on surfaces. The team is engineering a plasmid, a small loop of DNA, meant to break biofilms down as they form. The aim is a preventative approach after surgery, according to the district.

Then came the hands-on part. Parikh and Touranant taught the students basic suturing, the stitches used to close a wound, using a banana in place of skin.

The district says the point was to connect what students study in Anatomy and Physiology to real research, and to show them the role biofilms can play in surgical care. Community education and outreach are part of the iGEM experience too, the district notes, and Parikh took his into the classroom he had sat in two years earlier.

That is the quieter lesson. The distance between a high school lab bench and university research turned out to be one graduating class. For a West Babylon student holding a needle over a banana, that is a short enough distance to picture crossing.

Source: West Babylon UFSD, “Hands-On Science Lesson in Suturing,” October 19, 2026

MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR · COPIAGUE

Katelyn Agtuca is first in her class at Walter G. O’Connell Copiague High School. Skya Cham is second. On October 16 the Copiague School District named them valedictorian and salutatorian of the Class of 2027, along with the eight classmates who make up the top ten.

It is October of their senior year. Graduation is months away, and these ten already know where they stand.

In the order the district published them, the top ten are: Katelyn Agtuca (valedictorian), Skya Cham (salutatorian), Veronica Karwowska, Christie Arce, Alexa Blanco, Laila Mederos, Melanie Robertson, Paola Gonzales, Alexandra Kaleka and Kasper Sztabinski.

The district said the ten stood out for academic achievement, leadership, character and dedication, and that they balanced their classes with extracurricular activities, leadership roles and community involvement. It did not say which clubs, teams or causes. That is the part we would most like to hear about.

Principal Joseph Agosta said that making the top ten “reflects years of hard work, commitment and perseverance.” He added that the students “have challenged themselves academically while making meaningful contributions to our school community,” and that the school looks forward to “celebrating their continued success throughout their senior year.”

The same hallways have produced neighbors worth knowing before. Last week’s Meet Your Neighbor, Jeanine Guelee, is a Copiague High graduate. She is now working toward a law degree and a social work master’s at the same time. A class rank is a snapshot of where someone stands in October. What these ten do next is the longer story.

If you are one of the ten, or you cheer for one of them, write to us. We would like to introduce them in their own words.

Source: Copiague School District, “Leading The Class Copiague’s Top 10 Students,” October 16, 2026

FROM THE ARCHIVES

On the north side of Colonial Springs Road in Wheatley Heights there is a roadside marker that chooses its words very carefully. It says: “Legend Says After Sailing with Pirate Captain Kidd in 1690s, Conklin Built Home Here in 1710. House Destroyed by Fire in 1918.”

The word doing the work is “legend.” It is a good word for late October.

Jacob Conklin built the first home in what is now the Town of Babylon, according to the Town’s own history. How he paid for it is the question. Conklin, the Town’s history says, sailed with the pirate Captain Kidd, and afterward he had a large sum of money and used it to buy vast tracts of land.

There are two versions of how he came ashore. In one, he was pressed into Kidd’s service and escaped while the ship lay at Cold Spring Harbor, hiding among the Native Americans and later buying land from them. In the other, he was a full member of the crew who simply decided to get off when the ship reached Long Island.

The family’s own telling is the better Halloween story. In 1907 a descendant wrote to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle to set it down, according to the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, which funded the marker. In that version Conklin, sent ashore for water, slipped away and hid inside a hollowed-out tree. A search party came looking for him. According to the legend, the men sat down on the very log he was hiding in, and never found him. The ship sailed on to Boston, where Kidd was arrested. Kidd was later hanged in London.

Conklin stayed. The Pomeroy Foundation’s account says he married Hannah Platt in 1701 and raised seven children on land that some estimated at 3,500 acres. A 1937 town history called their house “unquestionably the finest.” It stood for more than 200 years, the Town says, until it burned in 1918.

Here is the part most people do not know. Jacob’s son, Colonel Platt Conklin, was the father of Nathaniel Conklin. In 1803 Nathaniel and his mother, Phebe, moved to the south side of what was then Huntington, found that their new house sat next to a tavern, and Phebe declared the place another Babylon. Nathaniel carved “New Babylon” on a stone tablet in his chimney.

So, if you believe the legend, the Town of Babylon was named by the grandson of a man who once ran from Captain Kidd.

Nathaniel’s 1803 house still stands, on Deer Park Avenue just south of the railroad tracks in Babylon Village, moved there in 1871. Jacob’s is gone. The marker is what is left.

Sources: Town of Babylon, “Town History” · Town of Babylon, “Wheatley Heights History” · Town of Babylon, “Historical Markers within the Hamlet of Wheatley Heights” · William G. Pomeroy Foundation, “Jacob Conklin”