A family member found David Astarita, a former Marist lacrosse player who ran the iconic pizzeria for nearly 20 years, unresponsive
A 60-year-old Babylon man who spent nearly two decades running the iconic Gino’s Pizzeria in the village drowned in an above-ground pool behind his home early Tuesday, police said.
A family member found David Astarita unresponsive in the pool at 21 Bacon Lane and called 911 about 6:40 a.m., police said. Suffolk Police Homicide Squad detectives are investigating, though police said they believe the death is non-criminal.
Police did not say how long Astarita, who was pronounced dead at the scene, had been in the water or what led to the drowning. The Homicide Squad routinely handles unattended deaths in Suffolk County, including drownings, even when no foul play is suspected.
The Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office is expected to determine the cause and manner of death.
Astarita served as the general manager of Gino’s Pizza of Babylon from 2003 to 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile. The popular pizza spot adjacent to the train station was purchased in 2023 and has operated as Bella Paza since.
Bella Pazza replaces Gino’s in Babylon
Astarita, a college lacrosse player with Marist in mid-1980s, also studied computer science and described himself as an IT enthusiast. His profile listed tech projects that included integrating websites with point-of-sale systems, setting up a radio dispatch system and maintaining computer hardware and software.
One of his career goals was to combine his restaurant management background with IT skills.
The Babylon man’s death comes well after the peak of swim season, at a time when many Long Island homeowners are closing their pools for the year.
It is not the first fatal backyard pool incident in the Town of Babylon in the fall. Back in September 2014, the wife and daughter of Thomas Romanello, 56, found him unresponsive in the four-foot above-ground pool at his North Babylon home on Dollard Drive.
Police said a vacuum was in the pool and that he may have been cleaning it to close it for the season.
Recent pool drownings of adults
Astarita’s death is the latest in a string of backyard pool drownings across Suffolk County in recent months.
In August, retired NYPD Chief Anthony Izzo, 75, drowned in his Stony Brook pool. Seamus McGuickian, 64, was found dead in his Islip Terrace pool two days later, and Eileen Specht, 87, drowned in her Northport pool three days after that.
Retired NYPD chief, 75, drowns in Stony Brook backyard
Anyone with information on Astarita’s drowning can call Suffolk Police Homicide Squad detectives at 631.852.6392.
Top: David Astarita’s LinkedIn profile photo and a Google Maps overhead view of the home and pool at 21 Bacon Lane in Babylon.
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