New York Skyliners

R. A. Garbarina Memorial Post No. 1523

New York, NY

American Legion National Champions 1949, 1950

Skyliners History

The New York Skyliners have won every major title available to a senior drum and bugle corps, including the DCA Championships, and the New York State and American Legion National Championships. The New York Skyliners were the 1963 World Open Champions, 1971 and 1975 DCA Champions, and most recently were the 1999 Drum Corps Associates Class A World Champions.

Membership meetings were first held in 1945, and the point was to create a senior corps for members of two units that were returning from service in World War II. Members of this corps were drawn from two New York City American Legion junior corps: The Phoebe Apperson  Hearst Post #1197 and the Grand Street Boys from Post #1025.The membership was accepted into the American Legion, and the new post was chartered in 1946. The post was named after Raymond A. "Gabby" Garbarina, a young man who played with both the Grand Street Boys and the Hearst Post corps, who had lost his life in the war. The new post was known as the Raymond A. Garbarina Memorial Post #1523,  New York City. The corps itself was also known as the Raymond A. Garbarina Memorial Corps, and later, the Garbarina Skyliners.

The corps' first appearance was an exhibition at a New York Giants football game at the Polo Grounds. They began competing the following season in 1947, winning the New York State American Legion title that year. The 1947 American Legion National Championship was held in NYC, but corps from the host city were not allowed to compete, so Garbarina had to sit it out. The 1948 Championship was held in Miami, and lack of funds prevented the corps from attending. The 1949 Nationals were held in Philadelphia, and Garbarina won their first national title. During the period from 1949 - 1951, the Garbarina Skyliners competed in 41 contests and won 38 of them. After the 1949 season, the corps became known as the Garbarina Skyliners, and later, the New York Skyliners. In 1951, corps member John F. Mazarakos passed away as a result of a very long time suffering from an illness stemming from his service in the jungles of the South Pacific. His name was added to the post charter, becoming the Garbarina-Mazarakos American Legion Post 1523, and it still survives to this day.

Over the years, the New York Skyliners have produced staff, members and instructors who have become household words in the drum corps fraternity; some are downright legends. Many of these people are in the Drum Corps Hall of Fame.

The corps moved to New Jersey officially in the mid 1990's and is located at the American Legion Post 255 in Garfield, New Jersey, former home of the Garfield Cadets. Although the corps is no longer from New York, in honor of its roots, it still retains sponsorship by the Garbarina-Mazarakos American Legion Post #1523 of  New York City.

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