The following excerpt is from a fascinating opinion article posted March 18, 2014 on the New York Times website. The author’s opinion is that Hart Island should be transferred from the Department of Corrections to the Department of Parks and Recreation – making it much more available to he public.
ON New York City maps, Hart Island drifts off the edge of the Bronx like an amputated leg. Among overgrown vegetation and ramshackle buildings spread out over 101 acres, about a million bodies are buried — the homeless, the poor, the stillborn, the unidentified and the unclaimed. The island is said to be home to the largest active potter’s field in America. Until recently, it was off limits to all but the most persistent.
Hart Island is controlled by the city’s Department of Correction. The burials — up to 1,500 a year — are performed by inmates from Rikers Island who are paid 50 cents an hour.
