Meet The New Mayor Of Babylon

BABYLON VILLAGE, NY — Babylon recently got its first female mayor in the village's history after the sudden death of longtime public servant Ralph Scordino in October.

During a special meeting last week officials chose Mary E. Adams to succeed Scordino, who served the community for 16 years as mayor after serving as deputy mayor and trustee for over 15 years.

Now, Adams will serve as the new mayor of Babylon. Adams works as a local real estate agent and was appointed as trustee by Scordino in 2016. She has worked in the village since 1987 and been a resident since 2003.

Patch spoke to the new mayor to learn about her plans for the village. Check out the full Q&A below:

Patch: How did it feel to become the first female mayor of Babylon?

Adams: It's an honor however, what's more of an honor is that the mayor thought that my strengths, my wisdom, my love for the village would be an asset to everybody here. So that's probably more of an honor knowing that was his wish. Of course, we didn't expect it to be under these circumstances.

P: How are you hoping to follow in Mayor Scordino's footsteps?

A: We are going to keep focusing on his vision for the village, always been about what's in the best interest in the village of the Babylon. For example, we're looking to get the Argyle Falls project completed.

P: What accomplishments in your past would you say makes you well suited to be mayor?

A: One of my great qualities is that as a business owner in the village and as a resident of the village, my heart is in the village — the same way that Mayor Scordino's was. Over my time as trustee, I expanded our summer recreation program for the children, I worked on some really great girl scout and boy scout project with the kids and when I was in charge of parks and recreation, we expanded our gazebo concerts. The mayor allowed me really to expand my horizons of what events and projects that I would like to bring into the heart of the village, which was really important to [Scordino] because it really brings value to the heart of the residents. Also just this year, we had our first pickleball tournament. We had over 62 teams playing, those teams did an outstanding job and then, they went hopefully to dine and shop in the downtown Babylon area. So [Scordino] always allowed my creativity, he always allowed me to expand on different horizons and different avenues. When I did, and did it right, he was my biggest cheerleader.

P: What is your vision for the village over the next few years?

A: My vision right now is to follow in [Scordino's] vision of adding to our village values, watching and protecting and safeguarding our community, and doing all of those things that he moved forward with. That's the plan right now.

P: Are there any lessons that Mayor Scordino taught you that you are planning on taking with you as mayor?

A: The mayor and I used to speak every morning at 8:30 in the morning like clockwork, seven days a week and I would call him every every evening at 7:00. So some of those lessons are always do what's in the best interest of the village, it's all about relationships and community and it's all about protecting our residents. His heart was really here and there's so many other avenues that people didn't know. One of the things the mayor would do early in the morning is drive through the streets here. He would make sure everything is safe and talk to the residents, that's how he would start his day off everyday. So I started following in his footsteps; protecting, maintaining and adding to the history of the village.

P: Any specific projects you are looking forward to?

A: As the projects come in, we will look at them and if they're in the best interest of the village, we will make some decisions. Right now, the falls was [Scordino's] baby and he worked so very hard on it. We are in the middle of restoring so that project is number one for right now and keeping our village going. We'll probably be replacing a playground or two in the next year. Everything we can do to keep our values high here, that's the main project.

P: What is the most pressing issue in the village you are hoping to address?

A: Right now, it's been three days so right now I am observing and looking at our village. Whatever needs to be addressed, will be addressed.

P: What else would you like the village residents to know about you?

A: I have an open door policy, the same way Mayor Scordino did. Anyone who has any questions, concerns, ideas can certainly reach out to me. I'm here to keep our village the best it can be and I'm very, very proud of what we have here. I'm looking to preserve it, protect it and move us forward.

P: Anything else you want to say to the community?

A: I hope as we move our village forward, that we all keep the memory and legacy of Mayor Scordino alive in our hearts. He gave 31 years of service and there were so many indelible marks that he made on this community and put his heart and soul into everything whether it was planting with the girl scouts or attending the concerts at the gazebo or going down to the pool for the swim meets or on the golf course, he was so much a part of the integrity of the village.