The community mourns the ‘Mayor of Love Lane’

The following remembrance was written by Gavyn Drago’s family and lightly edited for length and clarity.

Gavyn Avery Drago of Mattituck died Sept. 4, 2026. He was 17 years old.

A runner, surfer, skier, world traveler, Marvel enthusiast and LEGO fanatic, Gavyn journeyed through his school years with many of the same friends he had known since elementary school, happily adding to the group as the years went on.

He was a bright light in the North Fork community — often called the “Mayor of Love Lane” as a youngster — a teammate, the first grandchild in his family, a stand-in older brother to his cousin Cooper and a beloved son deeply devoted to his family.

Gavyn had wide-ranging interests that included comic books, politics, movies and running. He fell in love with music while still in diapers and spent hours strumming a toy guitar and singing songs by everyone from Adele to U2. At 5, he could recite the entire “Les Misérables” soundtrack.

Curious by nature, Gavyn loved learning how things worked. He closely followed film-industry news and knew more about the movie business than many adults. Every Sunday night, he checked in with his parents to report the weekend’s box-office numbers.

He was a deep thinker with an emotional intelligence admired by those he encountered, whether a restaurant waiter, his barber, colleagues at a summer internship or friends of his parents. Gavyn made friends easily and was innately thoughtful. He remembered birthdays and even texted his parents’ friends to wish them a happy Mother’s Day. He had a gift for bringing people together and making sure everyone felt included.

He was as determined as he was kind. After years of hard work academically, Gavyn earned membership in the National Honor Society and was on track for an AP Capstone Diploma. He was “pumped” for his senior year at Mattituck High School and had recently visited several colleges. He was excited about the next chapter of his life and determined to make his final year of high school his best.

Gavyn was also a stellar conversationalist, a skill that served him well while busing tables at his parents’ restaurant, Main Road Biscuit Co. in Jamesport.

Before the restaurant opened, 7-year-old Gavyn told his Hebrew school teacher that he was going to be its “president.” Once the business opened, he acted the part, eventually moving from helping around the restaurant to greeting customers. Many mornings of his childhood were spent at a table in the kitchen with LEGOs and markers while his parents worked to establish the business.

Gavyn understood the importance of community and contributing to the world around him. He completed more than 80 community-service hours through Passport for Good, volunteering at food pantries such as CAST and helping at Mattituck-Laurel Library.

For his bar mitzvah project, he raised more than $1,400 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. In March, he ran his fifth half-marathon and raised $3,200 for the Epilepsy Foundation of Metropolitan New York, a cause of deep personal significance because he had been diagnosed with epilepsy at a young age.

Running became one of Gavyn’s passions. Starting at age 14, he completed five half-marathons: the Brooklyn Half, two races on the trails of Brookhaven and, twice, his favorite, the United Airlines NYC Half.

In high school, his drive to improve himself and his team grew into what his family described as a healthy obsession. He tried to persuade anyone who would listen to join his running teams and train year-round. One of his favorite traditions was recruiting dozens of relatives and friends to run the annual Mattituck Turkey Trot with him before sitting down to a holiday meal with his family.

Gavyn also loved the ocean. He visited Montauk every year and surfed Ditch Plains whenever he could. He skied with his cousins in Maine, challenging himself to tackle harder trails on each trip, and loved visiting friends and family in California.

Traveling with his family became another important part of his life. He explored London and Paris with his mother during the summers before his sophomore and junior years. In Hawaii, he surfed in Maui and persuaded his father, who had never been on a surfboard, to join him. He also visited Pearl Harbor, whose history he had studied in AP World History.

Italy, his first trip outside the United States, held a special place in his heart. After a long journey to Positano, his family was eager to head to their rooms, but the hotel manager told them, “Positano, relax,” and seated them on a veranda overlooking the Amalfi Coast with aperitivo and fresh lemonade.

“Positano, relax” became a family motto, repeated whenever someone needed a reminder to slow down.

Despite all the places he traveled, Gavyn’s favorite was home.

Born in Manhattan and raised early on in Brooklyn, where he made lifelong friends, Gavyn considered the North Fork his favorite place, particularly his own backyard. There, he spent time with friends and cousins who were like brothers to him. He once said his backyard was the most peaceful place he knew.

He loved good food, whether local oysters in Greenport, mussels in Mattituck, pasta carbonara he learned to make in Rome or an ice cream stop at Magic Fountain with friends and family. His standing order there — cookies and cream ice cream with peanut butter sauce and Reese’s Pieces — he called “the Aunt Rebby.”

At Main Road Biscuit Co., Gavyn loved sharing meals with family and friends and was intensely proud of the restaurant he had watched his parents build — and that, in his own way, he had helped build alongside them.

Those closest to Gavyn remember his curiosity, confidence, humor, determination and unusual capacity for connecting with people. Whether discussing movies, running, history or the people he loved, he approached life with enthusiasm and an instinct for making others feel welcome.

Gavyn is survived by his parents, Marissa and Bryan Drago; grandparents James and Jaqueline Drago; aunts and uncles Rebecca and Evan Epstein, David Goldberg, James and Bonny Drago, Jessica Drago Romanelli and Paul Romanelli, and Karen and Jay Quartararo; seven cousins; and his dog, Jack.

He was predeceased by his great-grandparents Jean and Jack Quartararo and his grandparents Arthur and Michele Goldberg.