Anthony Noto, the people's politician, dies at 71

Anthony Noto was a political lightning rod who will likely be best remembered for helping to carve out the identity of the Suffolk County Legislature and weeding out the corruption of the Southwest Sewer District project. He dealt the final blow to the controversial and massive Multi-Town garbage incinerator project and instead formed Babylon's own town-wide garbage district, a concept that was ahead of its time and behind a threat against his life.

Noto, the colorful and often controversial former Republican County lawmaker and Babylon Town Supervisor, died Fri., March 13 at Good Samaritan Hospital from stomach cancer. He was 71 years old and had served as Babylon Town Supervisor from 1982-87.

But Noto's passionate and often troublesome style of leadership also had a softer side.

"He was the people's politician," said Carolyn Mammarella, a longtime Babylon Civic Leader. "He always thought of the little guy and thought of himself that way as well, despite the publicity he got for his more high profile work."

Thatwas obvious to Gordon Canary, his longtime aide and now Chief of Staff for Sen. Owen Johnson. Canary, who called Noto a father figure to him and his political mentor, recalled an incident while the two served in Babylon Town Hall that pointed to that side of Noto.

"We had been in some real tough negotiations at Town Hall with bond people to finalize an $86 million deal for the Babylon's solid waste management district and its incinerator," recalled Canary. "When we emerged from that meeting, we were stressed out to say the least, and very tired, and an elderly woman was sitting in the outer officewaiting to talk to Tony."

Canary said she had been waiting a while and wanted help with a problem with her neighbor. It seems the neighbor's dog was 'pooping' on her lawn and she wanted something done about it.

"Without hesitation, Tony spoke to the woman and told me to see to it that her concerns were addressed, " said Canary. "That's just the way he was with everyone who came to the officefor help."

"Tony was a Babylon original," said S.C. Leg. Wayne Horsley, a Democrat who was the Babylon Town party leader when Noto lost reelection to the Supervisor's post. Horsley recalls how they first crossed paths when he called a public meeting at Babylon High School to to talk about the Southwest Sewer District scandal.

"He wasn't an elected official at that time, but he got up and asked if he could pull out the blackboard on the wall," said Horsley. "He then wrote down the numbers, showing the problem, and that scene became the front page of Newsday the next day.

That cause later led him to join with two fellow lawmakers in the legislature, Republican Michael Grant, owner of Grant Funeral Home, and Democrat Martin Feldman, a dentist. Noto, Grant and Feldman, dubbed the Gang of Three, uncovered the largest public works scandal in the County's history, work that led to an FBI probe and indictments and convictions against sewer contractors and party bosses.

Noto had a knack for showmanship that often won him extensive press coverage- as well as the wrath of other politicians, even some within his own party. He was tapped by the party for the Supervisor's post in Babylon to get him out of the Legislature where he served for a time as the Presiding Officer. One columnist at the time described him as brazen as a hangman with the pardon in his back pocket.

"He was like liver," said Bill Hill, a West Babylon civic leader. "You either loved him or hated him."

"He always considered himself one with the people," said Jane Warren of Babylon, who worked as a volunteer in Noto's political campaigns. "He always said that no matter what happens, he would never move from the home he had in Babylon."

"He couldn't tolerate someone breaking the law or doing the wrong thing," said Canary.

It was that passion that led him to implement a program to tow away illegally parked and abandoned cars at a time the Town was becoming riddled with them. And, it was that passion that put him toe to toe with the commercial garbage carters who where bringing in more tonnage to the town's incinerator than they were paying for. His plan to install a scale to weigh trucks raised so much furor in the industry that it led to a death threat against him from the mob that was picked up in a wiretap by authorities. As a result, Noto applied for and received a gun permit, and purchased a .357 magnum, a weapon he wore almost as a badge of honor to show his commitment to the public and the projects he believed were important.

When the people of North Amityville were being victimized by the proliferation of the sale of drugs in an open-air drug market at the intersection of Great Neck Road and Albany Avenue, it was Noto, together with civic leader Ed Larsen, who waged a campaign to rid the area of the plight. Both men squared off against the drug dealers and brought together a major community and police effort to clean up the area. "He once again risked his own safety to solve a problem for residents who were having some very real problems," said Canary.

"He was always a gentleman to me and I have a great deal of respect for him," said Horsley. "He did a lot for our community."

Noto is survived by his wife Pauline, and his children, Vincent, a teacher in Seattle and Paula, an architect, of Patchogue.

He reposed at the Boyd-Spencer Funeral Home in Babylon until Tues., March 17, when a funeral Mass was said at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Babylon Village. Burial was in St. Charles Cemetery, East Farmingdale.