NYC Councilman claims city preparing to bury coronavirus victims in public parks, mayor denies plans
New York City will reportedly begin to temporarily bury its coronavirus victims in public parks in trenches dug for 10 caskets if the death toll from the deadly virus in the region continues rising. Councilman Mark Levine made the shocking announcement on Monday, April 6, saying that the burial would be done in a "dignified" manner.
"Soon we'll start 'temporary internment'. This likely will be done by using a NYC park for burials (yes you read that right)," Levine wrote on Twitter. "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." New York's death toll has already crossed over 3,400, and a spike in the death toll is expected this week.
"The goal is to avoid scenes like those in Italy, where the military was forced to collect bodies from churches and even off the streets. OCME is going to need much more staff to achieve that goal," he said. The councilman chairs New York City Council’s Health Committee.
City Hall, however, denied any plans to use public parks for temporary burials with city mayor stating that Hart Island is currently being considered for temporary burials if the need arises.
After a spread of panic and fear among the residents after Levine's declaration, the Mayoral spokesperson Freddi Goldstein took to Twitter, stating no such plans were being made.
"We are NOT currently planning to use local parks as burial grounds,” Goldstein wrote. “We are exploring using Hart Island for temporary burials, if the need grows.”
Levine, later, also clarified his statement, saying that the public park plan was a "contingency" and not yet in motion.
"As New York City continues to appeal to the nation for help, we need to ask not just for doctors and nurses and respiratory therapists. We also need mortuary affairs staff. This is tough to talk about and maybe tough to ask for. But we have no choice. The stakes are too high," he said.
"Nothing matters more in this crisis than saving the living. But we need to face the gruesome reality that we need more resources to manage our dead as well. Or the pain of this crisis will be compounded almost beyond comprehension."
The councilman said that the problem in the city has been exacerbated by the number of at-home deaths in the region. "It’s not just deaths in hospitals which are up. On an average day before this crisis, there were 20-25 deaths at home in NYC. Now in the midst of this pandemic, the number is 200-215. *Every day*," he tweeted.
The city, however, is currently considering Hart Island, located just east of City Island in the Bronx, as an apt location for temporary burials. The island has served as the city’s public cemetery for decades and is the largest such cemetery in the United States with over 1 million people buried there.
The novel coronavirus cases in the United States have crossed 368,449, with nearly 11,000 people dead because of COVID-19.