Rikers Inmates Will No Longer Bury The Dead Amid Hart Island Transformation

[brooklynite]

Gothamist

For more than 150 years, the city’s Department of Correction has managed Hart Island. The public cemetery is the final resting place for more than a million people, including unidentified New Yorkers, those whose families can’t afford private burials, and many who died during public health calamities such as the HIV/AIDS crisis.

The city had long employed people incarcerated on Rikers Island to bury the bodies. The job had high turnover in the best of times but more inmates began to refuse the task as COVID-19 overtook the city in March 2020. As an incentive, the city offered inmates a pay bump, raising their compensation to $6 an hour. Before that, inmates reportedly made less than $10 a day to bury bodies, which were arriving much faster than usual due to the pandemic. Soon after, the city shifted to outside contractors to manage the job. About 1,200 people are typically buried on Hart Island each year, but that number more than doubled to 2,666 in 2020, according to the city’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner.

The jurisdiction of Hart Island is now slated to be transferred to the Parks Department this July, meaning incarcerated New Yorkers will be permanently relieved of the duty. The move, resulting from a package of laws passed by the City Council in 2019, is part of a broader project to improve the landscape and operations of the cemetery and make it more accessible to the public.

But questions remain around the changes underway, including what the future visitation policies, transportation, burial process and grounds of Hart Island will look like. All of that will depend on which vendor is awarded a contract to manage operations moving forward, and the city is still in the process of reviewing proposals, according to the Human Resources Administration. The role the Parks Department will have is unclear—and the deadline is rapidly approaching.

[PJMcK]

1. Hart Island is a curious little place

For many years, I lived on City Island which lies parallel to Hart Island. I would often sail around Hart Island trying to glean its secrets from the safety of my boat. It occurred to me that with the proper planning, Hart could become a lovely public park.

Hart Island is featured at the climax of the Michael Douglas thriller, "Don't Say A Word."

[brooklynite]

2. "Public access to Hart Island resumes this month"

NY1

People will be able to visit Hart Island, the city’s only public burial ground, starting on May 15 after more than a year of paused visitation service due to the COVID-19 pandemic, city officials announced Wednesday.

Visits will take place twice a day at 9 a.m. and noon, and only 10 visitors will be allowed on each trip. The limited capacity is to allow for social distancing and other COVID-19 safety protocols, according to Department of Correction officials.

For now, visits will be limited to individuals with close ties to those buried on the island. Prior to the pause, gravesite visits, as well as tours for the public to a designated viewing area, were allowed.