NYC May Have To Use Parks For Temporary Burial Grounds

[Amber]

The Coronavirus has hit New York City harder than anywhere else in North America. Though the death expectancy in the U.S. is estimated anywhere between 100K-200K, many of those will likely come from NYC. As reports emerge that NYC is seeing near 9/11-type numbers of deaths, New York City Council Health Committee chair Mark Levine has announced that the city is running out of resources to store the bodies. Unfortunately, this could result in public parks being transformed into temporary burial grounds.

"A typical hospital morgue might hold 15 bodies. Those are now all full. So OCME has sent out 80 refrigerated trailers to hospitals around the city. Each trailer can hold 100 bodies. These are now mostly full too. Some hospitals have had to add a 2nd or even a 3rd trailer," he wrote on Twitter. "Grieving families report calling as many as half a dozen funeral homes and finding none that can handle their deceased loved ones. Cemeteries are not able to handle the number of burial requests and are turning most down."

Levine said because of this, they will be using NYC parks as "temporary internment."

"Soon we'll start “temporary internment”. This likely will be done by using a NYC park for burials (yes you read that right). Trenches will be dug for 10 caskets in a line. It will be done in a dignified, orderly--and temporary--manner. But it will be tough for NYers to take," he wrote.

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