New York’s city cemetery on Hart Island occupies 101 acres in the Long Island Sound on the eastern edge of the Bronx. It is the largest taxpayer-funded cemetery in the world. The City uses prison labor to perform the daily mass burials that number close to one million. Citizens must contact the prison system to visit Hart Island.
Flushing Meeting supports City Council legislation to transfer Hart Island from the NYC Corrections Department to the Parks Department in the hope that families will have improved access to burial sites as well as records of deceased relatives.
For more information, visit the Hart Island Project.