Anthony J. Tatti, advocate for North Babylon youth, dies at 67

Inside the Anthony J. Tatti Youth Center in North Babylon, photos of children and other people in the community hang on the walls, but only a few include the man who is the building’s namesake.

"Believe me, I had to force him to get into those pictures because he never wanted to be the face of it," said Donna Cannon, director of the North Babylon Community Youth Services, a nonprofit housed at the center that was named after her boss in January 2020.

For more than 45 years, Tatti, who grew up in North Babylon, dedicated himself to maintaining robust recreational and educational programming for adults and children from kindergarten through 12th grade. On Feb. 3, Tatti, who was the youth services executive director, died after a nearly two-year battle with gastric cancer. He was 67.

Tatti, known by many as Tony, helped create programs in 1976 for youths that still exist, ranging from recess and summer camps to sports, arts, cooking and theater workshops. The center was originally in the basement of the old pool building in Phelps Lane Park. The new building opened in 2003.

"It had weights and a pool table," said Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer, who went there as a teen. "It was a place to go to not be out on the street, doing something."

Tatti’s widow, Karen Tatti, said that when she met him in 1983 he was always about helping people.

"He built strong programs and always with the community in mind, and served the children of North Babylon," she said. "Even with his family, he was a giving, selfless person."

Rita Savastano worked closely with Tatti as the volunteer liaison for all the PTAs in the North Babylon School District. One of Tatti’s signature programs is the Almost Home Program created in 1988. The cooperative recreational program between the school district and nonprofit allows working parents to drop off their children at the center before and after school.

"It gave families an opportunity to have their kids taken care of," Savastano said.

Steve Bellone, before he became Babylon Town supervisor and later Suffolk County executive, said he got his youth employment papers thanks to Tatti.

Tatti was one of four children who forged a path toward helping people in the hamlet — similar to his parents’ efforts when they moved to Strathmore Drive in 1958, said his sister, Delice Scotto. Their mother, Lee Tatti, was part of the PTA for 50 years, while their father, John Tatti, was involved in the booster club to help support Tatti, who played baseball and football at North Babylon High School.

"At the school, they asked to be part of the youth center thereof some sorts," Scotto said. "But it was nothing like the scope of the youth center that he designed further on in the years."

Tatti was buried Feb. 8 at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.