The reality in New York is that New York has so many dead bodies (as we’ve noted previously) that New York now has to make a startling decision. On Monday, Mayor De Blasio confirmed that because morgues are so packed — the dead could soon be buried on Hart’s Island.
“We may well be dealing with temporary burials so we can deal with each family later,” said Mayor de Blasio in a press briefing at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. “Obviously the place we have used historically is Hart Island.”
Hart’s Island, for those who don’t know, is already a public burial ground but perhaps with a far more sinister past. Located off the southeast coast of the Bronx, the abandoned area is actually the home of thousands of HIV/AIDS patients from decades ago who were abandoned by their families. De Blasio has been loathe about the use of the public grounds considering they’ve long been the subject of controversy.
The area was once also used to bury tuberculosis patients who weren’t able to be given proper burials.