Stark aerial images show new graves being dug on Hart Island as New York coronavirus deaths surge

N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA TODAY
·1 min read

As New York state continues to report record-breaking numbers of coronavirus deaths, New York City burials are increasing on an island off the Bronx.

Normally, about 25 bodies a week are buried in the city's public cemetery on Hart Island; most of them are either unclaimed or are people whose families can't afford a funeral.

Now, around 24 burials occur each day, five days a week, said Department of Correction spokesman Jason Kersten.

New York City has also shortened the amount of time it will hold unclaimed bodies before they are buried in the city’s potter’s field on the island, a one-mile, limited-access strip where more than a million mostly indigent New Yorkers are buried.

Under the new policy, the medical examiner’s office will keep bodies in storage for just 14 days. City officials haven’t explained if the increase in burials is due to pressure on mortuaries to dispose of bodies more quickly.

Coronavirus deaths mount: New York City examines 'temporary burials' on Hart Island, official says

A spokesperson for Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday that the city is considering temporarily burying unclaimed bodies of COVID-19 victims on the island as the death toll from the pandemic grows.

Aerial images taken Thursday by the Associated Press show workers wearing protective gear digging graves on the island. About 40 caskets were lined up for burial on the island on Thursday, and two fresh trenches have been dug in recent days. Take a look.

Workers wearing personal protective equipment bury bodies in a trench on Hart Island, Thursday, April 9, 2020, in the Bronx borough of New York. On Thursday, New York City’s medical examiner confirmed that the city has shortened the amount of time it will hold on to remains to 14 days from 30 days before they will be transferred for temporary internment at a City Cemetery.
Workers wearing personal protective equipment bury bodies in a trench on Hart Island, April 9, 2020, in the Bronx borough of New York.
Workers wearing personal protective equipment bury bodies in a trench on Hart Island, April 9, 2020, in the Bronx borough of New York.
A truck loaded with bodies is ferried toward a burial trench on Hart Island. New York City is considering burying virus victims in temproary graves if the city morgues become overwhelmed.
A truck loaded with bodies is ferried toward a burial trench on Hart Island. New York City is considering burying virus victims in temproary graves if the city morgues become overwhelmed.
Earlier in the week, Mayor Bill DeBlasio said officials have explored the possibility of temporary burials on Hart Island, a strip of land in Long Island Sound that has long served as the city’s potter’s field.
Earlier in the week, Mayor Bill DeBlasio said officials have explored the possibility of temporary burials on Hart Island, a strip of land in Long Island Sound that has long served as the city’s potter’s field.
Hart Island, a strip of land in Long Island Sound, has long served as the city's potter's field. The city's 2008 Pandemic Influenza Surge Plan states that Hart Island would be used as a temporary burial site in the event the death toll reaches the tens of thousands and if other storage, such as the refrigerator trucks parked outside hospitals, is full.
Workers wearing personal protective equipment bury bodies in a trench on Hart Island, April 9, 2020.
Workers wearing personal protective equipment bury bodies in a trench on Hart Island, April 9, 2020.
Bodies are buried in a trench on Hart Island, April 8, 2020, in the Bronx borough of New York.
Bodies are buried in a trench on Hart Island, April 8, 2020, in the Bronx borough of New York.
Workers wearing personal protective equipment bury bodies in a trench on Hart Island, April 9, 2020.
Workers wearing personal protective equipment bury bodies in a trench on Hart Island, April 9, 2020.
Bodies are buried in a trench on Hart Island, April 8, 2020.
Bodies are buried in a trench on Hart Island, April 8, 2020.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New York coronavirus deaths: See images of Hart Island potter's field

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